Wednesday, January 31, 2007

To skype or not using Skype

Skype is one of the most important tools for me. I have loads of people I do contact this way, they are all over the world. OmegaWiki is possible because of using VOIP is easy. I talk with people on every continent except for Antarctica. For me it proved to be an essential tool.

The problem is that several of my most relevant contacts do use Windows and the quality of the Linux implementation does not cut it. Skype freezes the sound system erratically or it just does not install. One of my friends wants me to use SIP; he threatened me not to talk to me any more.. Remember, this is a relevant contact to me.

We had a look around and we found that we can connect a SIP service to Google talk. This worked great; I can connect using Google talk. If there is one thing lacking, it is that I can not initiate the connection to the SIP servers, they have to connect to me.

As I needed to find out if SIP would work for me, I installed Gizmo project. It basically does everything that Skype does, it uses a Standard protocol, in stead of a proprietary protocol.

My conclusion; to skype I do not need Skype. I would probably be better off when all of my contacts would not be using Skype at all. The message to Skype is simple; the one thing they have is a user base. The support for Linux sucks and this makes people look for pastures green. So, FIX IT !!!

Thanks,
GerardM

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