Skype 4.0 for Linux • Hacker News Board

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#31

Post by decklin » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 4:52 PM UTC

scribu wrote: post #24

At some point, Skype announced that it would open-source the UI part of the Linux client, allowing people to implement whatever interface they wanted. I guess that was before they were bought by Microsoft.

You can communicate with the Skype client over DBus, which allows you to replace a lot (although not all) of the UI with something else. Two examples:

http://code.google.com/p/skype4pidgin/ https://github.com/technomancy/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/skyy...

The protocol is incomplete (the "native" Qt UI isn't built on it), but it is at least documented on their dev site.

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#32

Post by bad_user » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 4:54 PM UTC

phenom wrote: post #6

You should probably stay on 2.2 beta.... 1. Skype 4 require download 95 additional packages for ubuntu version (all marked i386 even if you using amd64) 2. I am not sure but giant ads probably included too [1] [1] http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/skype-...

On Ubuntu the dependencies were already installed by the old version, so I could install this new version without anything else required.

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#33

Post by benatkin » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 4:57 PM UTC

I'd rather run Skype inside its own virtual machine, with ads blocked by restricting network access. Since a full Linux distribution can be obtained for free, this could help enable that.

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#34

Post by ArchD » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 4:59 PM UTC

ArchD wrote: post #11

Ubuntu 12 and Fedora 17 are the latest versions of Ubuntu and Fedora but apparently not supported according to the download distribution list. (s/11/12/, basic idea remains -- only old distros are listed)

It would be more accurate to say seemingly instead of apparently. The nuance is that the description in the download list implies that only the old distros are supported, but actually at least on F17, the F16 package still works. Why on earth they would release a 32-bit package but not a 64-bit package in this day and age, however, is a mystery.

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#35

Post by theatrus2 » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 5:01 PM UTC

benatkin wrote: post #33

I'd rather run Skype inside its own virtual machine, with ads blocked by restricting network access. Since a full Linux distribution can be obtained for free, this could help enable that.

Since Skype is one of the slipperiest applications out there in terms of network access, I'd imagine ads could be served by any node in the network.

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#36

Post by phenom » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 5:01 PM UTC

bad_user wrote: post #32

phenom wrote: post #6

You should probably stay on 2.2 beta.... 1. Skype 4 require download 95 additional packages for ubuntu version (all marked i386 even if you using amd64) 2. I am not sure but giant ads probably included too [1] [1] http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/skype-...

On Ubuntu the dependencies were already installed by the old version, so I could install this new version without anything else required.

My old amd64 version do not require that much dependencies only coupe of packages... and thats it..

Here list of my dependencies for skype 4:

bluez-alsa:i386 glib-networking:i386 gstreamer0.10-plugins-good:i386 gstreamer0.10-x:i386 gtk2-engines:i386 gtk2-engines-murrine:i386 gtk2-engines-oxygen:i386 gtk2-engines-pixbuf:i386 ia32-libs ia32-libs-multiarch:i386 ibus-gtk:i386 lib32asound2 lib32gcc1 lib32stdc++6 libaa1:i386 libaio1:i386 libao4:i386 libatk1.0-0:i386 libaudiofile1:i386 libavc1394-0:i386 libc6-i386 libcaca0:i386 libcairo-gobject2:i386 libcairo2:i386 libcanberra-gtk-module:i386 libcanberra-gtk0:i386 libcanberra0:i386 libcap2:i386 libcroco3:i386 libcupsimage2:i386 libcurl3:i386 libdbus-glib-1-2:i386 libdv4:i386 libesd0:i386 libgail-common:i386 libgail18:i386 libgconf-2-4:i386 libgdbm3:i386 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0:i386 libgettextpo0:i386 libgnome-keyring0:i386 libgomp1:i386 libgtk2.0-0:i386 libgudev-1.0-0:i386 libibus-1.0-0:i386 libidn11:i386 libiec61883-0:i386 libjasper1:i386 libmad0:i386 libmikmod2:i386 libnspr4:i386 libnss3:i386 libodbc1:i386 libpango1.0-0:i386 libpixman-1-0:i386 libproxy1:i386 libpulse-mainloop-glib0:i386 libpulsedsp:i386 libqt4-designer:i386 libqt4-opengl:i386 libqt4-qt3support:i386 libqt4-scripttools:i386 libqt4-svg:i386 libqt4-test:i386 libqtwebkit4:i386 libraw1394-11:i386 librsvg2-2:i386 librsvg2-common:i386 librtmp0:i386 libsdl-image1.2:i386 libsdl-mixer1.2:i386 libsdl-net1.2:i386 libsdl-ttf2.0-0:i386 libsdl1.2debian:i386 libshout3:i386 libsoup-gnome2.4-1:i386 libsoup2.4-1:i386 libspeex1:i386 libssl0.9.8:i386 libstdc++5:i386 libtag1-vanilla:i386 libtag1c2a:i386 libtdb1:i386 libunistring0:i386 libvorbisfile3:i386 libwavpack1:i386 libxaw7:i386 libxcb-render0:i386 libxcb-shm0:i386 libxft2:i386 libxmu6:i386 libxp6:i386 libxtst6:i386 odbcinst1debian2:i386 xaw3dg:i386

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#37

Post by bernalkc » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 5:03 PM UTC

SnowLprd wrote: post #29

Ooh! Ooh! Does it have the new Conversation Ads feature? http://blogs.skype.com/en/2012/06/skype_advertising_update.h... I, for one, cannot WAIT to see these new ads, which Microsoft describes as "content that could spark additional topics of conversation that are relevant to Skype users." Isn't that great? Ads are now "content." And the motivation isn't to make a bundle of money on ads, it's to "spark conversations.…

no ads in this client, on any screen, presumptuous one. next time look before you embarrass yourself.

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#38

Post by itsboring » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 5:04 PM UTC

SnowLprd wrote: post #29

Ooh! Ooh! Does it have the new Conversation Ads feature? http://blogs.skype.com/en/2012/06/skype_advertising_update.h... I, for one, cannot WAIT to see these new ads, which Microsoft describes as "content that could spark additional topics of conversation that are relevant to Skype users." Isn't that great? Ads are now "content." And the motivation isn't to make a bundle of money on ads, it's to "spark conversations.…

I'm inclined to agree with your points, I always preferred the linux client over the windows one, but skype just gets on my nerves recently. My team has switched to mumble for meetings and stuff and we find it immeasurably better. Plus, channels are a much better method for general collaboration than the outdated concept of conference calls.

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#39

Post by idonthack » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 5:06 PM UTC

phenom wrote: post #36

bad_user wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On Ubuntu the dependencies were already installed by the old version, so I could install this new version without anything else required.

My old amd64 version do not require that much dependencies only coupe of packages... and thats it.. Here list of my dependencies for skype 4: bluez-alsa:i386 glib-networking:i386 gstreamer0.10-plugins-good:i386 gstreamer0.10-x:i386 gtk2-engines:i386 gtk2-engines-murrine:i386 gtk2-engines-oxygen:i386 gtk2-engines-pixbuf:i386 ia32-libs ia32-libs-multiarch:i386 ibus-gtk:i386 lib32asound2 lib32gcc1 lib32stdc++6 libaa1:i3…

i like how it requires both gnome and qt4.

Re: Skype 4.0 for Linux

#40

Post by SnowLprd » Thu, Jun 14, 2012, 5:07 PM UTC

bernalkc wrote: post #37

SnowLprd wrote: post #29

Ooh! Ooh! Does it have the new Conversation Ads feature? http://blogs.skype.com/en/2012/06/skype_advertising_update.h... I, for one, cannot WAIT to see these new ads, which Microsoft describes as "content that could spark additional topics of conversation that are relevant to Skype users." Isn't that great? Ads are now "content." And the motivation isn't to make a bundle of money on ads, it's to "spark conversations.…

no ads in this client, on any screen, presumptuous one. next time look before you embarrass yourself.

To be fair, I wasn't presuming anything. While I applaud the release of the Linux version, I was merely trying to show that Microsoft's stewardship of Skype seems to be headed in a rather unsavory direction.