Skype - no more[alternative comes]

[forcecore]

Soon we may be finally get rid of Skype thanks to www.tox.im
1: written in clean c and c++(QT GUI)
2: easy to use
3: uses dht similar to Skype network.
4: read additional info from their website and Github.

[verndog]

Perhaps. But you need to convince your friends to install it.

[SteveRiley]

Can't XMPP and related technologies (Jingle, SIP) do all of this already? We don't need another protocol.

[dmeyer]

Can't XMPP and related technologies (Jingle, SIP) do all of this already? We don't need another protocol.

So true. However, from what I've experienced, I've always run into issues with currently available solutions and although they do work well, setting them up and general usage just doesn't seem to be as quick and easy as Skype. Personally I think Skype's quality is terrible and their app looks terrible on every platform. I hate how they for years advocated privacy and security while secretly being massive hypocrites, however, until a "three-click: alternative exists, I'll be stuck using it because everybody else uses it.

P.S. You must see this. It's a great description of many open source projects http://xkcd.com/927/

[forcecore]

Yes i have tried all SIP, XMPP...i mean almost all clients and all have serious problems: hard to use, relies on central servers, cannot penetrate firewalls, programmed in "fat" languages, not encrypted, unstable... SO answer is world needs robust Skype alnernate that works always, even on closed networks in event of catastrophe for example(which is not possible with skype because central login servers).

[Teunis]

You just mentioned one of the strongest points of Skype, the way it negates various firewalls.

[SteveRiley]

So true. However, from what I've experienced, I've always run into issues with currently available solutions

Yes i have tried all SIP, XMPP...i mean almost all clients and all have serious problems: hard to use, relies on central servers, cannot penetrate firewalls, programmed in "fat" languages, not encrypted, unstable... SO answer is world needs robust Skype alnernate that works always, even on closed networks in event of catastrophe for example(which is not possible with skype because central login servers).

What you're describing are implementation failures, not shortcomings in the protocols themselves. XMPP and SIP are perfectly capable of traversing NAT and can be delivered over firewalls that have been configured for them. Central servers are not required: federation is built in; my server can talk to your server, therefore we can communicate. (This is exactly how email works now, BTW.) XMPP messages and SIP/RTSP conversations can be protected by TLS encryption. And the language that a developer choses to write a client is really not at all related to this.

[NickStone]

I have never used Skype but I do know it is (supposed) to be an internet video telephone so I am assuming it must use the VOIP protocol and if it does can you phone someone on their Skype system using a different VOIP software? Or is the Skype network private and can only be used with Skype software?

[forcecore]

I have never used Skype but I do know it is (supposed) to be an internet video telephone so I am assuming it must use the VOIP protocol and if it does can you phone someone on their Skype system using a different VOIP software? Or is the Skype network private and can only be used with Skype software?

Skype network is private controlled by Microsoft and NSA, only Skype can be used.

[GreyGeek]

I tried to move away from Skype before MS bought them and installed their patented "Legal Intercept" spy software on their Linux server farms. It used to be that Skype hijacked part of your bandwidth and CPU to create "SuperNodes" that acted as servers for other users besides your self, IF you speed and bandwidth were great enough. Running a 4 core system with 8 threads, using 6GB of RAM into a 15Mb/s bandwidth made my system a prime Supernode candidate. I noticed the slowdown on both my cores and my bandwidth, Skype took about 1/3rd of both. I also learned that while Windows users had a setting which disabled supernodes on their box no such system was available to Linux users. The supernode threads were obscurely labeled and not identified specifically as Skype threads. The most reliable way to stop them was to quit Skype and reboot.

I tried Ekiga, which is designed poorly, works poorly, when it works at all, and I still have $20 tied up in its phone service, which doesn't work well either. I've tried qutecom, jitsi, twinkle, linphone, and a couple others whose names escape me right now. One of the ones whose name I can't remember was really good. It allowed you to talk with a group of people, talk privately with a group member and then rejoin the group, etc.... They were using FOSS users as guinea pigs. When they got ready to add the video they released only windows candidates, so I dropped it.

One of the reasons why I use Skype is because it allowed sharing of part or all of the screen. It made supporting others remotely very easy. I found one very good application, TeamViewer, which allowed voice and video via your browser but in addition it allows you to take control of the remote PC and that is great for remote support. It also allowed folks to transfer files back and forth. There are two problems with it. It is proprietary, and most end users can't figure out how to install it. I reluctantly left it.

Google has "Hangouts", which works very nicely in voice and video for up to 10 people simultaneously. (Jitsi connects using Google Talk, so you must supply your gmail password.) One must be able to install their talk and video browser plugins. For most computer noobs that seems to be as difficult as installing TeamViewer.

So, all of the folks I support still have Skype. And, I still chat with my remote family members and friends. We just don't say anything that we want to be kept private. In view of the US Federal government's pechant for violating the 4th Amendment I've installed gpg, created a couple 2048 encryption keys and hooked one to my Kmail. For security of private financial information that I send to specific people I compress the file to a zip with a key, and send the zip file encrypted by gpg with another key via email. I now sign all of my email.

Also, while I am on the topic of security. A couple years ago I purchased a Cisco E2500 wireless router to get IPv6 and DOC2 compatibility. Not long after I got it a dialog popped up when I attempted to attach to my wireless AP. It told me that Cisco needed to install a firmware upgrade for the E2500 but to do so I needed to sign on to Cisco's cloud service. I declined. Checking, I found that the Feds were behind the back door "upgrade" and I (or you) probably wouldn't have known about it if Cisco hadn't taken the opportunity to get greedy. I went to dd-wrt and installed their E2500 firmware. Huge difference. All the features Cisco had locked out were now open to me. The browse screens were better. The dd-wrt firmware ran faster. Win-win.

P.S.- I forgot to mention a VOIP that my grandsons and I use when we play Minecraft. It's called Mumble. Easy to install, (repository), easy to setup and easy to run. Of the dozens of servers (hundreds?) available we choose the free CentralUSA.com server. The voice is so clear it is like they are setting next to me. The bandwidth usage is spartan. Pay for a private server connection, use one of the free servers, or you can set up your own server as well. You can talk with anyone anywhere in the world there is an Internet connection, even a dialup one. No screen sharing, no video, but a very fast and easy to use VOIP.

[SteveRiley]

I have never used Skype but I do know it is (supposed) to be an internet video telephone so I am assuming it must use the VOIP protocol and if it does can you phone someone on their Skype system using a different VOIP software? Or is the Skype network private and can only be used with Skype software?

Skype network is private controlled by Microsoft and NSA, only Skype can be used.

Not exactly. Skype can communicate with POTS (plain old telephone service) subscribers. The SkypeOut feature allows you to call from your Skype client to a POTS or mobile telephone number anywhere in the world. The Online Numbers (formerly SkypeIn) feature allows you to attach a POTS number to your account, so that people can use their phones to call your Skype client. Both of these services have associated charges.

The Skype protocol is proprietary, but has been partially reverse engineered.

[GreyGeek]

I just had a wild thought... what if "Tox" was a "Honey Pot"?
(How many of you actually vet the source before you run the binary? We are relying explicitly on the honesty and integrity of the Kubuntu team and repository admins. Go off the reservation and who knows what you will run into. )

[mhumm2]

Hello GreyGeek et al. I use Teamviewer to maintain the Linux computer system of my (senior) parents who are still afraid of email. It's great and I had no problems installing it or talking my parents through the install. I do wish though, that we (linux) had a counterpart to Skype that was cross-platform capable like Teamviewer. Of course the security issues are important and need to be addressed as well. It's amazing how far we've come and how much better Linux is than it used to be, yet we still want and want some more. So who's going to write this golden application <grin>?

[GreyGeek]

Hello GreyGeek et al. I use Teamviewer to maintain the Linux computer system of my (senior) parents who are still afraid of email. It's great and I had no problems installing it or talking my parents through the install. I do wish though, that we (linux) had a counterpart to Skype that was cross-platform capable like Teamviewer. Of course the security issues are important and need to be addressed as well. It's amazing how far we've come and how much better Linux is than it used to be, yet we still want and want some more. So who's going to write this golden application <grin>?

I've used Teamviewer but there their recent release wasn't compatible with KDE > 4.5 (IIRC).

Have you tried krdc & krfb

[Teunis]

I've been using Teamviewer for the past couple of years to support some Windows using friends, I do remember there once was an issue installing it but it soon went away with an update.
It works well, especially because people with a technophobia seem to understand it.

I also use Skype and have some credit to call out to regular numbers but use it less and less since I installed Voipbuster.
Voipbuster is now also routing my regular calls as my modem (Fritz!box) handles voip.
€10.- gives 6 months of free calls to many countries, after that the calls are 1 cent per minute and that still gives a thousand minutes, plenty for me to last a year.