[Server-devel] [XSCE] [Off Topic] More Linux users facing skype issues

[tkkang at nurturingasia.com]

Have seen my son use this and host his chat session with teammates in game play 10 years ago. It has been around for long time and works well for him.

http://www.ventrilo.com/download.php

Nice if it can run on Sugar or can be a XSCE addon!

Also bigbluebutton is an opensource videoconferencing system.

Cheers

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Adam Holt [mailto:holt at laptop.org]
>Sent: Tuesday, April 5, 2016 08:30 AM
>To: 'xsce-devel'
>Cc: 'XS Devel'
>Subject: Re: [Server-devel] [XSCE] [Off Topic] More Linux users facing skype	issues
>
>On Mon, Apr 4, 2016 at 8:11 PM, T Gillett <tgillett at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> You might also like to look at Jitsi as a Skype replacement (
>> https://meet.jit.si) for group tele/video conference in particular.
>>
>> You just need a reasonably up to date browser such as Chrome or Firefox.
>>
>> Just go to the web site, launch a session, and then share the URL with all
>> the participants.
>>
>
>Aside: a non-browser approach is in fact fundamental to most use cases.
>
>The reason is that reliable calls are completely immune from browser
>instability; no less searching among ~200 tabs for a live
>family/community/business call Ain't Viable (!) ...even if that magical
>crash-free / thrashing-free browser of the future one days appears on our
>doorsteps, hahah :>
>
>Something Google does not seem to understand yet, still a decade after
>GChat etc -- everything looks like a nail, when you are the hammer?  Or
>perhaps Google is/will one day face reality, issuing unobtrusive
>Mac/Windows/Linux client software for Hangouts?
>
>Conversely Microsoft is finally learning from others, offering a live URL
>to Skype hangouts/calls for more open / ad hoc participation:
>http://blogs.skype.com/2015/10/15/a-new-easier-way-to-start-a-skype-conversation-and-invite-anyone-to-join/
>
>On Tue, Apr 5, 2016 at 10:02 AM, Adam Holt <holt at laptop.org> wrote:
>>
>>> One of our hackers in Haiti is of course a Linux diehard, who during our
>>> weekly call today, kept being being blocked by Microsoft's
>>> self-contradictory (and how am I supposed to upgrade??) message-of-death:
>>>
>>>    "[user] unable to join this call as they need to update Skype first"
>>>
>>> So we tried to hack Skype, by restarting the large group call to/between
>>> Linux users first, and then adding all the other user incrementally from
>>> there: Voila it worked flawlessly!
>>>
>>> Conclusion: there can be no mistake understanding why this is happening.
>>> Evidently Microsoft prefers Linux over all other OS's, and so going forth
>>> we will abide by their thoughtful pragmatism, and always begin with Linux
>>> for a harmonious experience by all.
>>>
>>> On Sat, Apr 2, 2016 at 12:46 AM, Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Ring had a lot of active development. I've been using it since back when
>>>> it was called SFLPhone.
>>>>
>>>> Sameer
>>>> On Apr 1, 2016 6:25 PM, "Anish Mangal" <anishmg at umich.edu> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Unfortunately, Antox - The Tox client for Android is quite buggy, and
>>>>> AFAIK, doesn't support audio/video calling.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Apr 1, 2016 at 11:06 PM, Alex Perez <aperez at alexperez.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I’d also like to second that you guys look into Tox:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tox_(protocol). There are iOS/Android,
>>>>>> OS X, (numerous) Windows and Linux clients.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Apr 1, 2016, at 6:34 AM, Anish Mangal <anishmg at umich.edu> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/03/31/1956218/skype-for-linux-dead-or-just-resting
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://nickforall.nl/skype/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> and of-course
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://www.stallman.org/skype.html
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This is not an excuse for not joining the weekly calls (sorry for
>>>>>> that), but it has made it quite a bit harder to join skype calls, if you
>>>>>> happen to run purer (purely) free software based software.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have an android phone with Cyanogenmod, and only f-droid (none of
>>>>>> the google spyware). There is no way to get skype to run on it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Skype doesnt work on my fedora 21 box.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The only way I am able to connect is via a VM running Linux mint.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So far, it's been mostly me creating noise (and apologies for that),
>>>>>> but I will continue to do so from time to time. Hopefully someone else who
>>>>>> joins these calls regularly in the community values freedom.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ==Alternatives==
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So far, I have found the  following alternatives.
>>>>>> 1. Tox (http://tox.chat) - It has bad support for android, but it's
>>>>>> linux client seems to work well
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2. Ring (http://ring.cx) - It seems to have good support for android,
>>>>>> and ofcourse Linux/Windoze/OSX
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 3. Mumble - This is widely used by many communities and well supported
>>>>>> on most platforms
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 4. Having a SIP server - There are all kinds of apps that can connect
>>>>>> to a SIP server,* including from within the browser* as well (see
>>>>>> sip.js). This is also easy enough to host, and not bandwidth consuming.
>>>>>> Willing to offer to setup one if someone can offer server space.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyway, all this is not to say, i wont join calls, I am sorry for
>>>>>> that, but just making aware of where things are headed skype-wise.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>> Anish
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Anish
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>
>