Skype Video

Denver Gingerich denver at ossguy.com
Thu Nov 1 17:51:10 UTC 2007


Hi Laurie,

There is at least one alternative to Skype that already supports video
calling.  It's called WengoPhone and it runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and
Linux.  You can find more information about it at
http://www.wengophone.com/index.php.  To install it on Ubuntu, run
"sudo apt-get install wengophone" from a command line.

I would highly suggest using WengoPhone or another open source
application for voice or video chatting rather than Skype.  Skype is
closed-source and uses closed standards for voice calling.  Using
closed standards means that you can only call people on Skype if they
are also using Skype.  WengoPhone allows you to call anyone with a SIP
account (SIP is an open standard for voice chatting), not just people
using WengoPhone.

The service that WengoPhone uses also has lower per-minute PC-to-phone
calling rates than Skype.  For Canada and the USA, Skype charges
$0.024/min while the WengoPhone service charges $0.009/min.

I would also suggest that you avoid Skype because it is closed-source
and, as a result, restricts your freedom, but that requires a bit more
explanation.  If you want a brief overview of this, check out the Free
Software Definition (according to the Free Software Foundation) at
http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html.  From this
definition, WengoPhone is free software, but Skype is not.  I'd be
happy to discuss more about why open source software should be used
instead of closed-source software if you're interested.

Let me know if you have any questions about WengoPhone or other
alternatives to Skype.  Thanks.

Denver


On 10/29/07, Laurie Bell <lveeb at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Everyone,
> Skype was rumoured to be enabling video calling for 7.10,does anyone know if
> it available?
>  Thanks
>  UBUNTU - I am what I am because of who we all are.
>
>
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