[Deaf-lug] Re: [deaf-uk-tech] Ubuntu and Cross Over

[JGJones]

Just a thought - I know you use SightSpeed for clients, but I've not
always found it that "brilliant" however I admit that this was quite
some time ago...actually...coupla of years ago!

However here are some video-phone software that would make ideal
replacement should you require that...(to be frank I find that more deaf
people use either MSN or Skype than they use SightSpeed but of course
this is my personal experience - it'll be nice to have something that
tell us how many use what)

Wengophone (http://openwengo.com/)

It's an open source alternative to Skype making use of open standards
such as SIP etc (so you can use your own server if you wish) - video
calling clients available for all platforms (plus it being open source
means it's possible it get ported to new devices quickly). Video quality
with this was reasonably decent and speed was good. Because it use SIP,
I would think it's possible to have this working with SignWales too and
even to use as a client because it's open source.

Ekiga (http://ekiga.org)

This is one of the default application in Ubuntu - it works with H323
and SIP (thus can work with SignWales' platform and have been tested for
it as well as BDA's VRS system. Problem is that its video codec is only
H261 (awful awful) so can't be used. BUT...

Next version of Ubuntu will have Ekiga 3.0 which will have video codec
plugin meaning you can use any codecs including H.264, H.263 etc (DLink
videophone use H.263 for example). They have a Windows version now and
the libraries are used in Xmeeting for OSX
(http://xmeeting.sourceforge.net/pages/index.php) Again because they use
SIP it would work with SignWales *and* because it use H323 it can also
work with BDA's VRS system as well as others such as Sign'ificant's VRS
system as well as to anyone with a DLink or H323/SIP videophone.

Skype (http://skype.com)

They are finally now doing videocalls for their Linux clients - it's in
beta but you can start using it -
http://share.skype.com/sites/linux/2007/11/skype_20_beta_for_linux_with_video.html 

The problem with using emulation software is obviously speed (and video
calls where they use H.264 like to have crunching power to ensure it can
decode/encode quickly for a smoother video) But if this is what you
want...let me muddle the ground a bit more and throw in another
alternative - VirtualBox - it's open source ;-)
http://www.virtualbox.org/  - I've heard very good things about it. I
would suggest giving this one a try since it cost nothing.

Finally at end of the day, I always try to encourage people to take up
clients that are open source OR make use of open standard such as SIP -
for example Skype is a closed source client - not a problem by me, but
they also use their own closed protocol. That's a problem. It can only
be Skype to Skype.

Wengophone on the other hand - it may be closed source for all I care,
but it use open standard protocols - SIP - meaning I could call up
anyone else on their videophone - it doesn't matter what model, whetever
if it's hardware based or software based it will work. It could be used
to call something such as SignWales even for whenever they do a VRS
project. Ekiga likewise - in theory I could call a Wengophone user from
Ekiga for example. It doesn't matter what server or client they use -
they can communicate with each other and if both support the same video
codecs then can also do videocall too.

Hope this all was of help

Cheers

On Wed, 2007-11-14 at 20:25 +0000, Dafydd Eveleigh wrote:
> Hi Folks,
> 
> I recently install Ubuntu 7.10 and it is brilliant.
> 
> It finds all the drivers I needs and install them so my wireless
> network on
> my laptop is working brilliantly. Also the effects such as 3D cube and
> so on
> is brilliant.
> 
> So I am running out of reasons to keep a dual boot on my laptop. The
> only
> reason I need windows is for SightSpeed (There is no linux
> version :-[ )
> 
> So which do people recommend for sightspeed?
> 
> Crossover
> Win4LinPro
> VMware Workstation
> Qemu with KQemu
> 
> Many Thanks
> 
> Dafydd
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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