[kwlug-disc] Cross platform, cross-protocol messaging client

Fri Dec 5 17:03:42 EST 2014

Which is (mostly) possible ... except for Skype.

And ... IIRC what Bob was saying, Google (talk / voice / hangouts) has 
moved / gone that way too. Except, it does still feel like, IIRC, gtalk 
(chat) still works across all - just not necessarily via a gtalk 
specific client on each platform. e.g. I think a bb gtalk will still 
show up on a win chrome hangouts.

But this all also a (surprisingly) still moving target - voice and video 
('codec') convergence still going on, it still only being in the last 
decade that sufficient universal bandwidth is lying about. e.g. I doubt 
Hangouts could have had the success it has had, whatever that is, a 
decade ago for lack of bandwidth, let alone without Android's saturation.

And with Google continuously trying to take over the world (witness the 
now ubiquitous gmail) and beating all around with voice and video (thus 
the attempts, failures, re-attempts [eventually]), I don't expect it 
will be too long before Hangouts is the new Skype.

Add in their cable / TV efforts ... and like I said, a still moving 
target. While Linux isn't any too swift on converging on the one true 
(== reluctantly accepted ubiquitous Google reverse world takeover).

In the mean time ... like I said, various VoIP clients are including 
voice, video, chat, jabber, etc. - even if you don't use VoIP, is as 
close as you can come to one-stop central shopping AFAIK.

Or ... something like XBMC?

On 12/05/2014 11:49 AM, CrankyOldBugger wrote:
> Yes, that would work, but we're still unable to address the issue of "I
> want one ring to rule them all", err.. "one client client that can handle
> all protocols, without add-ins, or other chats running in the background,
> or death by plugins, etc.)
>
> Basically I want one program running, cross platform of course, that
> listens to my MSN, Google, ICQ, SMS lines, flips to video with a Skype call
> comes in, etc.  On paper, it sounds simple. but in real life, it's much
> more complicated.
>
> I'm guessing, based on the responses here, that such a beast does not
> exist, and (thanks to proprietary systems) probably won't exist for a long
> time.
>
> It's a shame, since there are so many good chat clients out there, but each
> one insists that you get all of your friends to download and join as well,
> thus further adding to the problem...
>
>
> On Fri Dec 05 2014 at 11:42:19 AM Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
>
>> Android phone or tablet. Works with Skype, GotoMeeting, Viber, Hangouts,
>> ...
>>
>> You can install/uninstall the app when needed/after use.
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 11:37 AM, William Park <opengeometry at yahoo.ca>
>> wrote:
>>> Well, if company wants to do Skype interview, you don't have much
>>> choice.
>>> --
>>> William
>>>
>>> On Fri, Dec 05, 2014 at 11:11:57AM -0500, Andrew Mercer wrote:
>>>> Why use Skype except to video chat with relatives that live far away at
>>>> Christmas time? It then only becomes a once a year requirement to run
>> that
>>>> piece of junk!
>>>>
>>>> ---
>>>> Andrew Mercer
>>>> www.andrewmercer.net
>>>>
>>>> On 2014-12-05 04:28, B.S. wrote:
>>>>> If Skype is in the mix, no way around needing multiple applications.
>>>>>
>>>>> Confusion isn't just different iterations of gtalk -> hangouts, it's
>>>>> different availability by platform. e.g. voice / chat inconsistently
>>>>> implemented across platforms (e.g. gmail), gtalk only no hangouts on
>>>>> bb (iirc), I forget which or both for iPhone, ...
>>>>>
>>>>> Cranky, you may be as well off looking at voip with jabber/chat
>>>>> facilities as pidgin or anything else - if you have to change, may as
>>>>> well change to the most functionality possible for fewer apps to
>>>>> master. Skype is unavoidable. With time you can move people over (if
>>>>> you have VoIP {something} VoIP clients can call you free - they don't
>>>>> need their own VoIP service or anything), but you'll never get 100%
>>>>> success. Linphone and Ekiga come to mind.
>>>>>
>>>>> Reading between the lines, you have a high Skype WAF, and I doubt
>>>>> you'll ever move her off. As a result, she'll probably add more people
>>>>> to it for chat before you'll get her to migrate to something else.
>>>>> (For her it ain't broken, doesn't need fixing .. ?)
>>>>>
>>>>> Good luck! We feel your pain.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 12/04/2014 08:37 PM, Nick Guenther wrote:
>>>>>> I've had mixed results with this. It seems that at least if the other
>>>>>> end is using the old style gtalk web client, I can still add people.
>>>>>> The confusion probably comes because gmail end-user types probably
>>>>>> don't notice if they're on Hangouts, old web gtalk, or Windows
>>>>>> GTalk.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On December 4, 2014 2:12:02 PM EST, Jason Locklin
>>>>>> <locklin.jason at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> Skype is a complete black box. Libpurple, and the various clients
>>>>>>> that use it (like Pidgin, Adium, Bitlbee, etc) can pretend to have
>>>>>>> Skype text chat functionality by running Skype in the background
>>>>>>> and accessing the friend list and chats via an API.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Google has also been transitioning away from XMPP/Jabber with
>>>>>>> their Hangouts. The Jabber interface for the 1-on-1 chat in Gmail
>>>>>>> is still available, but who knows for how long, and, from what I
>>>>>>> understand, adding new people now to your friend list may not be
>>>>>>> possible.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 14-12-04 12:18 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
>>>>>>>> You can interface with Google Talk through many clients, but you
>>>>>>>> will not have Hangout video/audio capabilities.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Skype is a proprietary protocol and to my knowledge was never
>>>>>>>> fully supported for voice on any of the open clients.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Since the other parties you are connecting to are already on
>>>>>>>> these services, alternative protocols are seldom an option.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 12:06 PM, CrankyOldBugger
>>>>>>>> <crankyoldbugger at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Does anyone out there know of a good cross-platform (Linux,
>>>>>>>>> Windows
>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>> Android) messaging client that can import and handle Skype,
>>>>>>>>> Google Talk/Hangouts, and IRC friends lists?  As it sits, I
>>>>>>>>> have at least
>>>>>>> three
>>>>>>>>> different messaging clients running at any one time, I'd like
>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>> roll them
>>>>>>>>> all into one app if possible...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I've used Pidgin before but I found the Skype addons a bit
>>>>>>>>> flaky..
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
>> 2bits.com, Inc.
>> Fast Reliable Drupal
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>>
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