[sclug] Skype/alternatives

[John Barron]

On Thursday 25 August 2005 23:55, Stuart Major wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I just wondered whether anyone is using Skype or alternatives.  Does
> anyone have any recommendations for Linux compatible hardware?
>
> I was thinking of purchasing one of these: VoIP EasyBlue Telbox from:
> http://www.thelinuxshop.co.uk and then I suddenly thought, "What about
> video calling?"
>
> Thanks, Stuart.

I use Skype from both Windows and Linux, which by and large I find fine, 
without any especial requirements. Occasionally the audio quality drops 
out/becomes unusable, though from the behaviour I've seen that appears very 
often to be down to poor hardware microphone/headsets on the other end - when 
both people have a good setup and a reasonable network connection it's 
usually fine.

The only few things that annoy me about Skype are:
==> It's closed source, so you never really know quite what's in there, or 
what might be in the next version. For the same reason, updating it's 
probably a manual download, rather than the normal apt-get automatic process 
I'm used to for most applications.
==> On the Windows version, *every* time you start it, it insists on 
defaulting the "login automatically" box to ticked. Even if you uncheck it, 
it doesn't remember, and defaults it back again the next time. A small thing 
in a way, but *so* annoying! The Linux version isn't braindead in that way, 
oddly enough.

-- 
John Barron