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Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

zdnet.com

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Re: Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

#91

Post by Nexxxeh »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #51
vforvangelis wrote: post #45

An interim solution could be to install the UWP Skype app from the Store. I don't think it relies on Updater.exe for patches.

Yeah, the article seems to fail to mention that the current version of Windows, which almost everyone had two years to upgrade to for free, has a version of Skype that isn't vulnerable. Given that Windows 10 has been out since 2015, and everyone with a Windows license going back to 2009 had a free upgrade path, failing to mention that Skype on Windows 10 (they don't recommend classic Skype for Windows 10 users) isn't…

I don't know if it's still the case, but is the UWP a crash-prone nightmare that doesn't have feature parity with the older client family?

Re: Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

#92

Post by saagarjha »

rspeer wrote: post #78
saagarjha wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because they rewrote their native Cocoa application in Electron and threw away years of work that they had put into it making it decent along with it.

I don't know what those years of work were accomplishing, but they didn't make Skype decent. Skype was decent a decade ago, and it has declined since then.

That's nothing the sharp decline that was version 8.0.

Re: Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

#93

Post by ocdtrekkie »

Nexxxeh wrote: post #91
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the article seems to fail to mention that the current version of Windows, which almost everyone had two years to upgrade to for free, has a version of Skype that isn't vulnerable. Given that Windows 10 has been out since 2015, and everyone with a Windows license going back to 2009 had a free upgrade path, failing to mention that Skype on Windows 10 (they don't recommend classic Skype for Windows 10 users) isn't…

I don't know if it's still the case, but is the UWP a crash-prone nightmare that doesn't have feature parity with the older client family?

It's gotten significantly better over time. I can't remember the last time it crashed, sync between clients of the chat log is kinda wonky sometimes but that's just Skype in general. Not positive on feature parity, I've been on the UWP version for quite a while and couldn't tell you what's different anymore.

Re: Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

#94

Post by y0ghur7_xxx »

paulddraper wrote: post #87
joshumax wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was about to say this. My Debian machine updates software through apt + dpkg, and I installed Skype via the Skype repository. Why would Skype for Linux then choose to bundle its own updater, thereby breaking the integrity a package manager provides?

Lots of programs I have try to update outside dpkg: Chrome, Intellij, VS Code.

> Lots of programs I have try to update outside dpkg: Chrome, Intellij, VS Code.

Chrome and vscode have their own apt repositories. I don't know about intellij, but at least for the other two you just have to install them using their repos, and not using the dpkg package directly.

Re: Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

#95

Post by pier25 »

pas wrote: post #29
pier25 wrote: post #26

The new Skype version has been terrible, at least on macOS. What are some good alternatives that offer group calls and screen sharing?

Hangouts, FB Messenger.

Hangouts has terrible performance and I won't force people into using anything FB related.

Re: Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

#96

Post by Nexxxeh »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #93
Nexxxeh wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if it's still the case, but is the UWP a crash-prone nightmare that doesn't have feature parity with the older client family?

It's gotten significantly better over time. I can't remember the last time it crashed, sync between clients of the chat log is kinda wonky sometimes but that's just Skype in general. Not positive on feature parity, I've been on the UWP version for quite a while and couldn't tell you what's different anymore.

I've literally had to go out to unfuck a Skype UWP install onsite tonight, in what may be a freak co-incidence.

Skype decided a perfectly working webcam was permanently in use by something else. It wasn't, but a uninstall and reinstall of the app cured it.

Re: Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

#97

Post by pas »

pier25 wrote: post #95
pas wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hangouts, FB Messenger.

Hangouts has terrible performance and I won't force people into using anything FB related.

We found that Hangouts was the most resilient, followed by FB Messenger. All better than Skype. (Of course all 3 are terrible from a lot of aspects, mainly they come with having a Google or FB account.)

Slack is good for 1-1 calls though.

And of course there are possibly hundreds of free and open source alternatives, but I don't know of any that can be easily used from a browser.

I hope the Mattermost video-audio chat ( https://docs.mattermost.com/deployment/webrtc.html ) gains enough momentum to become a well established alternative.

Re: Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

#98

Post by pier25 »

rspeer wrote: post #78
saagarjha wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because they rewrote their native Cocoa application in Electron and threw away years of work that they had put into it making it decent along with it.

I don't know what those years of work were accomplishing, but they didn't make Skype decent. Skype was decent a decade ago, and it has declined since then.

That may be true, but the Cocoa version was still better in terms of performance and usability.

Re: Skype can't fix a nasty security bug without a massive code rewrite

#99

Post by pier25 »

pas wrote: post #97
pier25 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hangouts has terrible performance and I won't force people into using anything FB related.

We found that Hangouts was the most resilient, followed by FB Messenger. All better than Skype. (Of course all 3 are terrible from a lot of aspects, mainly they come with having a Google or FB account.) Slack is good for 1-1 calls though. And of course there are possibly hundreds of free and open source alternatives, but I don't know of any that can be easily used from a browser. I hope the Mattermost video-audio cha…

Slack could be a good option, it has group calls and screen share, but my company won't pay for it.
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