Dear Skype/Microsoft: Problems with Linux client

Post by LoSboccacc » Wed, Feb 24, 2016, 1:51 PM UTC

lawl wrote: post #229

LoSboccacc wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they both break library compatibility and break their environment (like when kde removed the widget toolbar and a whole lot of app suddenly stopped working) sure you can have bunch of ifdef in the code, and an autoconf, and make sure you support a wide set of options, but that is basically the whole point, it makes for a painful experience and costlier, slower development (for closed source application that comes pre…

I feel like you do not understand the concept of static linking, because the entire point is that you don't need a bunch of ifdefs, since you target exactly the version you develop against and ship with it.

Post by e12e » Wed, Feb 24, 2016, 1:58 PM UTC

TheHippo wrote: post #200

anon4 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Skype is shit, but Hangouts is not even a contender * No desktop client * Connected to your google account meaning I'll need to juggle several google accounts to keep my personal and business chats separate Just the fact it doesn't have a native desktop client makes it unusable. I know there are workarounds I can use like nativefier but it's still not as smooth as a desktop app. Running in the browser: - Gets grouped…

> No desktop client Seeing the level of shitty ported Linux programs I see this as a pro. > Connected to your google account meaning I'll need to juggle several google accounts to keep my personal and business chats separate This would be easier with Skype if you have 2 Skype accounts? When using Chrome: > - Gets grouped with my other browser windows in my taskbar, making it hard to find Menu -> More tools -> Add to…

Post by criddell » Wed, Feb 24, 2016, 1:59 PM UTC

lmm wrote: post #194

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Fun fact: I have a friend who worked for Skype in Prague. He said the codebase is a true horror, an extreme mess, and that soon it would "reach a singularity" Being a developer, I read this and think, what developer thinks any existing codebase is NOT a mess. It's the number one developer complaint ever. They (we?) all think we know a better way.

I've worked on plenty of good codebases. I think the key is continuous improvement. The code from 5 years ago is always going to be worse than today's code, but as long as you're able to improve code as you work on it it doesn't get too bad.

Post by lawl » Wed, Feb 24, 2016, 2:03 PM UTC

LoSboccacc wrote: post #241

lawl wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like you do not understand the concept of static linking, because the entire point is that you don't need a bunch of ifdefs, since you target exactly the version you develop against and ship with it.

the example I gave is exactly how stuff has broken in projects. static linked on a kde library that had widget, new one doesn't have that nor a fallback, application crashes. or just go get some old static compiled stuff run on your modern distro and see yourself. like, mindrover the europa project port.

    $ file Mindrover\ The\ Europa\ Project\ DEMO\ r1-lgp-x86.run 
    Mindrover The Europa Project DEMO r1-lgp-x86.run: ELF 32-bit LSB executable,
    Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib/ld-linux.so.2,
    for GNU/Linux 2.6.15, BuildID[sha1]=fe926b7ea13be61d05cdd605e313f50042040153, stripped

    $ ldd Mindrover\ The\ Europa\ Project\ DEMO\ r1-lgp-x86.run 
	linux-gate.so.1 =>  (0xf7722000)
	libglib-2.0.so.0 => not found
	libz.so.1 => not found
	libfuse.so.2 => not found
	librt.so.1 => /lib32/librt.so.1 (0xf7700000)
	libdl.so.2 => /lib32/libdl.so.2 (0xf76fb000)
	libpthread.so.0 => /lib32/libpthread.so.0 (0xf76dd000)
	libc.so.6 => /lib32/libc.so.6 (0xf7525000)
	/lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x5660a000)

Post by cookiecaper » Wed, Feb 24, 2016, 2:04 PM UTC

anexprogrammer wrote: post #185

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #31

Skype worked far, far better 10 years ago than it does today. From all indications I've seen, Skype is getting dramatically worse all the time. From a personal standpoint, it crashes for me multiple times a day and I can rarely get group calls working on the first try. Often Skype requires a force-quit and then it crashes twice more when it is being restarted. This is on Mac and Android. Fun fact: I have a friend who…

Most things worked far, far better 10 years ago than today. Apparently this is progress. Social everything means we can't visit a website today without calls to a billion external domains. Phones are doing the same as they're mini-tablets that suck at actual phone calls. Operating systems have taken on mobile centric (and the hideous flatten everything) design that is broken paradigm for a 15" laptop or 24" desktop s…