[SLUG] Skype / Google phone

[Martin Webb]

john at johnallsopp.co.uk wrote:
> Hi
>
> Any experiences / gotchas regarding Skype and its alternatives too ..
> same thing, OSX and Fedora 4.
>
> Cheers
> J
>
>   
Skype works very well, but, as you have said in the past, is not open 
source.  There is one bug that I know of, in the Linux version - in 
order to use SkypeOut (telephone a landline) you need to close and 
re-open Skype after each call.  Not a big problem, but I wish they'd fix it.
Skype is good for Instant Messaging, conference messaging, VoIP, 
conference VoIP, PC to PC, PC to landline.
You sometimes need to make adjustments to sound-card settings in Linux - 
make sure mic is on, mic boost is on, CD vol is off, and all that 
stuff.  A little bit of experiment with someone sympathetic at the other 
end sorts it quickly.

Gaim works excellently for Instant Messaging, and will interact with 
many other formats and services.

I want to look into Ekiga, but it looks as though there are not many 
users.  My interest is video conferencing using open source.
Martin