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Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

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Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#11

Post by fname »

stashdot wrote: post #6
p4bl0 wrote: post #3

I don't see why people would quit using Skype now. The fact that it has been bought by Microsoft doesn't change that Skype is evil. It already was. It already was a closed source software using a proprietary protocol and doing stuff you don't know with your bandwidth. Don't get me wrong, it's great if people switch from Skype to something free (as in freedom), but not if it's because it has been bought by Microsoft,…

The simple reason is that the Linux version of Skype might be axed as a result of the acquisition. This has happened before.

Except that they refuted that very statement in their press release

Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms.

http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2011/may11/05-10Cor...

Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#12

Post by wyclif »

stashdot wrote: post #6
p4bl0 wrote: post #3

I don't see why people would quit using Skype now. The fact that it has been bought by Microsoft doesn't change that Skype is evil. It already was. It already was a closed source software using a proprietary protocol and doing stuff you don't know with your bandwidth. Don't get me wrong, it's great if people switch from Skype to something free (as in freedom), but not if it's because it has been bought by Microsoft,…

The simple reason is that the Linux version of Skype might be axed as a result of the acquisition. This has happened before.

The reality is that losing the Linux client for Skype isn't a tragedy, since it sucks and has since the beginning, unlike the Mac client.

Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#13

Post by Derbasti »

wyclif wrote: post #12
stashdot wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simple reason is that the Linux version of Skype might be axed as a result of the acquisition. This has happened before.

The reality is that losing the Linux client for Skype isn't a tragedy, since it sucks and has since the beginning, unlike the Mac client.

Ouch. The Skype Mac client sucks hard. It is pretty feature-complete, though.

Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#14

Post by steve-howard »

p4bl0 wrote: post #3

I don't see why people would quit using Skype now. The fact that it has been bought by Microsoft doesn't change that Skype is evil. It already was. It already was a closed source software using a proprietary protocol and doing stuff you don't know with your bandwidth. Don't get me wrong, it's great if people switch from Skype to something free (as in freedom), but not if it's because it has been bought by Microsoft,…

Really? "Evil" just because it's closed-source? Regardless, I'd imagine most Linux Skype users have at least a few Windows users on their contact lists -- and good luck getting them to switch operating systems.

Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#15

Post by Derbasti »

bad_user wrote: post #9
maqr wrote: post #2

I'll be trying to get my contacts to use Google Talk. It has all the features of Skype, including video conferencing, for free.

Unfortunately the desktop client needs some work, and AFAIK it supports only windows. And another thing I don't like about Google Talk is that last time I tried, it had no support for multi-user video-conferencing. Neither do the free Skype accounts, but I think on Skype you can have a video-conference with up to 4 users. So if Google is going to put some resources into GTalk, then it will kick-ass (you'll just tell…

Google Talk runs in the browser. I tried it on Windows and Mac without problems. Actually, we found it to be more reliable than Skype at low bandwidths.

Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#16

Post by Argorak »

Hm, 3 Options, of which one only supports Linux (Empathy) and one only supports Windows & Linux (Ekiga). Only Linphone seems to have platform support that comes close to Skype. So, cut it down to one.

Personally, I think Linphone looks kind of dated and their site is full of google adwords. I would hesitate to send a link out to anyone.

Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#17

Post by darklajid »

jister wrote: post #5

I don't see any reason to replace Skype.

I see quite a lot of good reasons for it - but the site fails to list any decent alternatives. I don't think there are any at this point.

To give you an impression of things that might speak against using Skype (not that I want to imply that these should matter to you. I merely want to speak for the 'I'd like to leave (but cannot)' side):

1) It's proprietary. We cannot validate the protocol without reverse engineering (and even then they'd be free to break/change it). The security of Skype calls, one of the loudest arguments for using it, is dubious and it seems to be a fact by now that governments are allowed to/capable of recoding your calls.

2) Resource heavy: If you ever compared a Skype conference (audio only) with any other system, the resource usage is ridiculous. Mostly CPU, but also network wise.

3) In your face advertisements: The (unacceptable) UI constantly pops up with 'subscribe here'/'buy credits there'/'did you know all the other ways you can hand over your money'. You can turn off most of these, but an update usually leads to the very same thing.

4) Maybe related to the P2P architecture: The behavior is unpredictable at times. I often see people online, they don't see me. Or vice versa. I can talk to someone on Skype, but messages (say, a link) fail to be delivered. Sometimes messages queue up for hours and completely lose their meaning when they arrive at 1am, asking about having lunch.

Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#18

Post by aaimnr »

trezor wrote: post #10
maqr wrote: post #2

I'll be trying to get my contacts to use Google Talk. It has all the features of Skype, including video conferencing, for free.

I know absolutely nobody who uses Google Talk. Posting on Facebook "Does anyone here really use Google Talk?" there was a roaring silence in response. I can't for the life of me see why you would go from a minor evil service like Skype/MSN/whatever with a variety of clients to choose from to a monsterous big-brother service like Google Talk. Aren't we giving Google enough power and dominance as it is? Edit: To commen…

1) Each gmail user is also a GTalk user. It's very convenient to be able to reach people not using any other IMs through the GTalk's web interface.

2) In corporate environment it's sometimes the only option, due to inability to install 3rd party software.

3) There's a huge advantage of GTalk over Skype - Skype is a P2P protocol. If you send a message to an offline contact and disconnect, he will never receive it unless at some point you are both online. It makes sense for VOIP obviously, but for IM that's just ridiculous.

For the same reason there's no server-side history - no way to reach lot of important information after you reinstall the system, break computer etc.

Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#19

Post by limmeau »

steve-howard wrote: post #14
p4bl0 wrote: post #3

I don't see why people would quit using Skype now. The fact that it has been bought by Microsoft doesn't change that Skype is evil. It already was. It already was a closed source software using a proprietary protocol and doing stuff you don't know with your bandwidth. Don't get me wrong, it's great if people switch from Skype to something free (as in freedom), but not if it's because it has been bought by Microsoft,…

Really? "Evil" just because it's closed-source? Regardless, I'd imagine most Linux Skype users have at least a few Windows users on their contact lists -- and good luck getting them to switch operating systems.

The other point was using bandwidth. If you run Skype on a well-connected computer, you can't decide whether you want to become a big Skype relay node for your part of the world; Skype decides that for you.

Re: Bye Bye Skype, Top 3 Free Replacements

#20

Post by Joeboy »

fname wrote: post #11
stashdot wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simple reason is that the Linux version of Skype might be axed as a result of the acquisition. This has happened before.

Except that they refuted that very statement in their press release Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms. http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2011/may11/05-10Co…

> Except that they refuted that very statement in their press release

They rebutted it. I don't really see how they could refute it.

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