Be careful what you write & say on Skype!

[dibl]

The paranoia level on the forum has been disappointing lately, so here's something to worry about, if you weren't already concerned.

[dmeyer]

The paranoia level on the forum has been disappointing lately, so here's something to worry about, if you weren't already concerned.

Wow, that is horrifying. Honestly, WebRTC cannot come soon enough.

[oshunluvr]

Yeah, like we didn't see this kind of crap coming. I literally un-installed Skype the minute I read MicroSith took it over.

[dequire]

+1. Uninstalled. Google Hangouts are better anyway.

[dmeyer]

+1. Uninstalled. Google Hangouts are better anyway.

Maybe for social communication but most companies/universities/consultants etc insist on Skype.

[dequire]

Maybe for social communication but most companies/universities/consultants etc insist on Skype.

Maybe but I haven't had it be an issue yet. Plus the article doesn't even mention that Skype on Linux sucks for business. You can't even video chat with more than one person. Also, as of some recent updates, Google Hangouts now allow you to record the session, use desktop sharing, and also remote control. Ironically, considering your statement (which has some merit), Skype on Linux is ONLY viable as a social communication.

[oshunluvr]

Every company I work with/for uses Citrix. No Skype here.

[dmeyer]

Every company I work with/for uses Citrix. No Skype here.

I'm not talking internal communications, there are many solutions a lot better for internal communications. I know that when my dad has to conference call he just VPNs into the company network and they have their own software there. I'm talking things like I want support from a company, often its done over Skype. I've had many of my first-round internship interviews on Skype. Between two different companies Skype is often used.

Honestly, I wish I could get rid of Skype, its a pesky piece of spyware but studying abroad has left me with no real good alternatives. Especially alternatives that work on Linux for me and Windows for everybody else. WebRTC is my best bet.

[oshunluvr]

My company and my contract customer both prohibit Skype. Of course, they also prohibit Dropbox and a dozen other really useful tools. >

[dmeyer]

My company and my contract customer both prohibit Skype. Of course, they also prohibit Dropbox and a dozen other really useful tools. >

Replace Dropbox with Owncloud. Owncloud has a great web interface and their sync clients are pretty epic too.

[SteveRiley]

Wow, that is horrifying. Honestly, WebRTC cannot come soon enough.

Jabber fixes all these problems. Peer-to-peer conversations are encrypted, as are logons. You can use a public Jabber server or set up your own, and it will automatically federate with every other Jabber server on the planet. Jabber is to IM what SMTP is to mail. I'm perplexed as to why the protocol labors in obscurity.

Replace Dropbox with Owncloud. Owncloud has a great web interface and their sync clients are pretty epic too.

OwnCloud's sync client is unnecessarily chatty. Rather than relying on inotify to detect changes to files, the client polls your OwnCloud server every 30 seconds, looking for changes. This is an amazingly inefficient way to maintain sync state.

[dmeyer]

OwnCloud's sync client is unnecessarily chatty. Rather than relying on inotify to detect changes to files, the client polls your OwnCloud server every 30 seconds, looking for changes. This is an amazingly inefficient way to maintain sync state.

That's true. I lengthened the poll interval. I thought they were working on fixing this?

[SteveRiley]

I dunno. I've stopped closely following the project. I think it's grown into such a ginormous pile of brittle PHP (wait, is that redundant?) that maintenance has become an almost impossible task.

[Simon]

I honestly never used Skype. I just never saw any benefit to use it. I am an mmo gamer (on the side) but I use a product called Ventrillo for that. I have an Xbox 360 and a friend clued me in on how MS Kinect being used to spy on you, it is even in the EULA;

Sections 9 and 12 of the TOS for MS Kinect :

If you accept the agreement, you “expressly authorize and consent to us accessing or disclosing information about you, including the content of your communications, in order to: (a) comply with the law or respond to lawful requests or legal process; (b) protect the rights or property of Microsoft, our partners, or our customers, including the enforcement of our agreements or policies governing your use of the Service; or (c) act on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers, or the public.”

So I never bought one. Paranoid? Hell yes, I am paranoid. I don't want pics of me in the buff and some nerdy geek back at MS HQ posting them to his friends. I am not wearing the aluminum foil cap just yet. But if I sit down in front of a laptop with a cam I make sure there isn't something on the wall behind me that could make me look stupid or incriminate me in some way. Don't get me wrong cameras are a cheap useful tool for security, if they are used properly. But I recall over in Michigan quite a few years back someone got a camera into the Detroit Lions locker room and posted pic of the players in their birthday suits.

So by not using Skype what am I missing?

[SteveRiley]

I don't want pics of me in the buff and some nerdy geek back at MS HQ posting them to his friends.

Honestly...you weren't all that exciting. We deleted yours.