[kwlug-disc] Skype (replacement)

Andrew Sullivan Cant acant at alumni.uwaterloo.ca
Mon Nov 27 23:36:53 EST 2017 

Interesting. I'll have to try out the Wire UI and see how it compares.

I could see that the IM stuff bring at the forefront might obscure the
video chat usage.
As you say, might also be a marketing thing too.

Andrew


On 26/11/17 16:35, Keefer Rourke wrote:
> I'm not totally sure how they compare. IMHO Matrix is a superior communication protocol, but perhaps less friendly to non-technical users who just want one-to-one video chat or group calling. Probably just issues of marketing to various user groups, but I've had more luck getting people to use Wire than to use Matrix/Riot.
> 
> 
> On November 26, 2017 4:01:40 PM EST, Andrew Sullivan Cant <acant at alumni.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>> How does wired compare with matrix.org?
>> I have used matrix successfully for 1-1 video, which are WebRTC I
>> believe.
>> Apparently the riot.im service supports group video/audio chat, but I
>> have not tried it.
>>
>> Somethings that stand about for Matrix:
>> * you can already self-host
>> * supports and already has multiple clients
>> * explicitly supports bridging to other networks
>>
>> This page lists the cilents and bridges which currently exist, with
>> various levels of done-ness.
>> https://matrix.org/docs/projects/try-matrix-now.html
>>
>> Looks like bridges to SMS already, but both are Alpha:
>> * https://matrix.org/docs/projects/as/matrix-appservice-twilio.html
>> * https://matrix.org/docs/projects/other/SmsMatrix.html
>>
>> But I still do not see anything for going out to the PSTN.
>> I am guessing that bridges from WebRTC to SIP/VoIP probably already
>> exist?
>>
>> Andrew
>>
>>
>> On 26/11/17 15:24, Bob Jonkman wrote:
>>> We were just talking about Wire at the KWVoIP meeting last Thursday
>>> (hi Ron!). When I announced on Twitter that we'd be discussing
>>> Wire[1], @Wire immediately offered to provide support. Unfortunately,
>>> the conversation at KWVoIP was so interesting that we didn't actually
>>> get around to using Wire at the meeting.
>>>
>>> Wire is at least as good as Skype, since it was created by the
>>> original two Skype developers.  There are some quirky UI choices tho,
>>> including some mystery-meat navigation (onscreen widgets are
>> invisible
>>> until you hover the mouse over them -- but how to find them in the
>>> first place?) There's no integration with the PSTN (yet).
>>>
>>> I'm using Wire, my userID is @BobJonkman -- feel free to add me to a
>>> conversation group. I'm currently in groups with people from KWVoIP
>>> and the !Fediverse
>>>
>>> Source code for many client platforms and the server is available at
>>> https://github.com/wireapp although a blog post[2] indicates that
>>> self-hosting isn't available yet (I haven't tried). Federation is
>>> promised for early in 2018, where one server instance can connect to
>>> another and everyone can run their own. Perhaps what they meant is
>>> that self-hosted instances can't yet communicate with others.
>>>
>>> --Bob.
>>>
>>> [1] https://twitter.com/wire/status/933819857916874752
>>>
>>> [2]
>>>
>> https://medium.com/@wireapp/open-sourcing-wire-server-code-ef7866a731d5
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2017-11-25 11:11 PM, Keefer Rourke wrote:
>>>> Hey all,
>>>
>>>> While it's all well and good to rant about proprietary software, 
>>>> it's better to find replacements and encourage others to make the 
>>>> switch as well. Skype on a whole is pretty crappy software, and
>>>> its famous for crappy call quality.
>>>
>>>> One such replacement was mentioned (Discord) which is also 
>>>> proprietary and mostly focused at gamer audio chat... but a better 
>>>> anologue to Skype may be Wire [1].
>>>
>>>> Wire has open-source clients on all major platforms, is Linux 
>>>> friendly (distro-agnostic with AppImage), easy to use, and has 
>>>> excellent call quality. They also just recently open-sourced their 
>>>> server [2] and will be providing self-hosting instructions soon! 
>>>> Their hosted version is quite fine though and I've never really
>>>> had a problem with call quality, video is usually crisp (network 
>>>> allowing), audio never falters, etc.
>>>
>>>> I've completely replaced Skype with it, and convincing others to 
>>>> switch isn't hard either (usually people tend to be pretty 
>>>> accommodating if they know there are issues with some software 
>>>> platform or another, and signing up for another account these days 
>>>> is just something people tend to do without thinking anyway).
>>>
>>>> Links: [1] https://wire.com/en [2] 
>>>> https://github.com/wireapp/wire-server
>>>
>>>
>>>> On November 25, 2017 8:00:10 PM EST, Ron Singh 
>>>> <ronsingh149 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Look at this GEM of a response from an MS tech staff -- "Rhiza_E
>>>>>  
>>>>>
>> <https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/profile/91e5e6e6-2254-4182-9537-93fbc222b012>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>> replied
>>>>> on Microsoft
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi 52ROSt,
>>>>>
>>>>> Apparently, automatic log in when your PC starts is not
>>>>> supported in the new Skype for Windows, Mac and Linux - you
>>>>> always have to log in with your Skype account credentials.
>>>>> Meanwhile, you can share us your feedback here. 
>>>>>
>> <https://go.skype.com/feedback?lang=en&tag=The%20new%20Skype%20for%20Windows,%20Mac%20and%20Linux&p=-2&e=FA34778>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>> Please let us know if you have other questions.
>>>>> Rhiza_E Skype Community Moderator
>>>>>
>>>>> ​How it is possible for any company to release a version that is
>>>>>  essentially broken is so many ways is really quite beyond me.​ 
>>>>> Yep, even on the 5.5 Beta, one has to punch in one's sudo 
>>>>> password (key ring) before Skype will login.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>> Ron Singh "in transit, via mobile comm device"
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, Nov 25, 2017 at 6:43 PM, Ron Singh 
>>>>> <ronsingh149 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I use Skype a lot.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I depend on Skype for video comm with my kin,  with clients
>>>>>> and IT suppliers.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Windows, Skype 5.x was excellent in terms of reliability, 
>>>>>> clean
>>>>> layout
>>>>>> and easy of use. I ditched Windows some 10 months ago and went 
>>>>>> all Linux, using Skype
>>>>> 4.3
>>>>>> sourced from LM's software repo On Linux, Skype 4.3 was 
>>>>>> excellent in terms of reliability, clean
>>>>> layout
>>>>>> and easy of use.. On Linux, Skype 5.x BETA was barely 
>>>>>> acceptable in terms of
>>>>> reliability,
>>>>>> clean layout and easy of use..
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I did the upgrade to Skype 8.11(X220 laptop with LM 18.1 Xfce)
>>>>> yesterday
>>>>>> and man, that was just a huge mistake -- issues pop up with 
>>>>>> many much-needed configuration features removed.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Most tellingly, upon boot-up and launching Skype 8.11, only 
>>>>>> the
>>>>> outline of
>>>>>> Skype can be seen on the desktop, nothing can be clicked on 
>>>>>> since the outline just showed the contents of one's desktop. 
>>>>>> Only on minimizing
>>>>> to
>>>>>> tray and then un-minimizing or full-screening will bring up 
>>>>>> the
>>>>> proper
>>>>>> "Open Skype" page in all it's glory.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I decided to purge the laptop of Skype 8.11 and tried again on 
>>>>>> other laptops running LM 18.1, LM18.2 and Fedora 27, same 
>>>>>> thing. Same
>>>>> issue.
>>>>>> I have used old firmware, new firmware, 4.4LTS, 4.11, 4.13 
>>>>>> kernels,
>>>>> but
>>>>>> yeah, same thing, same issue. Every OS tried was a bare metal 
>>>>>> install, no VMs involved.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Through tear-filled eyes full of rage, I grabbed the 5.5.0.1
>>>>> SkypeforLinux
>>>>>> Beta from here: 
>>>>>> https://repo.skype.com/deb/pool/main/s/skypeforlinux/ and 
>>>>>> re-installed 5.5 Skype and now I am able to usefully Skype my
>>>>> behind
>>>>>> off again, feebly trying to ignore it's tablet-y interface.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In a perfect world, I would ditch Skype and use something like
>>>>> Discord and
>>>>>> get on with it, but I need to communicate with with over 2 
>>>>>> dozen
>>>>> folks via
>>>>>> video-chat and the only common denominator for them all is 
>>>>>> Skype.
>>>>> Sure
>>>>>> looks like nothing like this exists or will ever exist.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In an even more perfect world, MS would release the 
>>>>>> SkypeforLinux
>>>>> source
>>>>>> to be worked on by the Linux community, but that's for an 
>>>>>> alternate
>>>>> reality.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sorry about the rant, just wanted to sound off a bit.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ron Singh " ​calming down with a glass of win"
>>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc mailing 
>>>> list kwlug-disc at kwlug.org 
>>>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> kwlug-disc mailing list
>>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
>>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
>>>
> 


-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 833 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://kwlug.org/pipermail/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org/attachments/20171127/ea127a5b/attachment.sig>

More information about the kwlug-disc mailing list