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Goodbye to Skype for Linux? Microshaft strikes again.

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Goodbye to Skype for Linux? Microshaft strikes again. Empty Goodbye to Skype for Linux? Microshaft strikes again.

Post  eldersnake Tue May 10, 2011 5:37 pm

Microshaft to acquire Skype

I don't like this too much. But then I say that whenever Micro$oft takes over someone else :p

I don't really use Skype but so many do, even those within my own family. Is this likely to kill off Linux versions of this app, or at least turn many people off it, ala mono? Thoughts?
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Post  waynefoutz Tue May 10, 2011 5:57 pm

I don't know, what's puzzling is what does Skype have that Microsoft is willing to pay $7 billion dollars for? All I know is this, I don't see Microsoft remaining the Juggernaut they were in the past two decades. More and more people are going to tablets and hand-held devices, and Google is rapidly taking Microsoft's place as Apple's main competitor. Tablets are biting into the PC market big time, and Mr. Ballmer's ideal tablet has Windows 7 clumsily shoe-horned on to it.

http://it.tmcnet.com/topics/it/articles/164396-pc-sales-down-thanks-tablets.htm

http://www.mobileattack.com/general/tablets-will-keep-beating-down-pc-sales-through-2011-according-to-ims-report/

By the way, I guess I'm one of Skype's few paying customers. My Android phone is through Virgin Mobile, here in the USA, for $25 a month I get unlimited data, but with only 300 minutes of phone time. If I want to place a long call to my family member, I just use the Skype dialer, the person on the other end can't hear the difference...what a deal!
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Post  eldersnake Tue May 10, 2011 7:58 pm

Yeah, their prices can be quite good no doubt. I looked into the rates a few times out of curiosity in the past and I was quite impressed.

As far as I can tell they believe Skype will help them especially in the smartphone market, and yes tablets etc. And they want to combine the Skype technology in their software like in their smartphones, the Xbox service and business apps and the like. Basically Microsoft products in general. I'm a bit hazy on the whole thing but I too don't think it's suddenly gonna make them compete so much better with Google.

They are apparently also fighting hard to make Bing competitive but it's coming at great financial cost, so that along with this $8.6 billion (so I read) Skype deal could be costly if things don't go as well as they hope.

They'll lose quite a lot of users if the Linux part of it disappears too, though hopefully the Google Talk (edit: Google Voice) thing is going well, I haven't looked at it much lately, last I looked it was US and Canada only but that may have changed.
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Post  rflejeune Wed May 11, 2011 7:20 am

No skin off my nose. Ekiga is still free.
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Post  eldersnake Wed May 11, 2011 4:25 pm

Interesting, I've heard of Ekiga but never really paid much attention to it. It's site presents it very well though, I'm surprised it's not more well known (or maybe it's just me Wink)
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Post  waynefoutz Wed May 11, 2011 4:54 pm

Ekiga was installed on Ubuntu by default there for a while. I think around the 8.04-9.04 era. Not sure when they removed it from the lineup.
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Post  Arcanis Thu May 12, 2011 12:22 pm

I'm glad this was brought up. I always wonder when Micro$oft makes a purchase if there isn't some way they can use this acquisition to edge in on Linux and Open Source, as in the Novell thing.

But this time I don't think so. At least, I can't see how buying a proprietary app that only has a Linux version can help them in their takeover of the world.

Unless, of course, Ballmer was a little drunk, too.
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Post  rflejeune Thu May 12, 2011 3:35 pm

It doesn't matter in the least to me. The problem with trying to take control of an app like skype is that there will always be an extra workalike that you can use. Its kind of like what Oracle tried to do with OpenOffice. In no time, there was a fork. Now the situation with skype is a bit different, and it has a pretty hefty user base, but if MS does anything that Linux users dont like they can easily switch to another app that works just as good. the very idea that MS now owns it will drive a good many users away anyway.
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Post  eldersnake Thu May 12, 2011 4:36 pm

Yeah true, as a locked proprietary app in the first place, Micro$oft taking them over doesn't affect Linux itself too much as it's not some open source thing they are moving in on and there are indeed alternatives. The only problem I suppose is for those who switch, there's probably always going to be some of you that have friends and family who use Skype and aren't likely to be convinced to use anything else Wink

Still, from memory, although not free, there was some software made that could enable you to communicate with Skype (proprietary) with a SIP (open standard) client, but whether that's still viable I don't know.
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Post  waynefoutz Fri May 13, 2011 6:45 pm

rflejeune wrote:It doesn't matter in the least to me. The problem with trying to take control of an app like skype is that there will always be an extra workalike that you can use. Its kind of like what Oracle tried to do with OpenOffice. In no time, there was a fork. Now the situation with skype is a bit different, and it has a pretty hefty user base, but if MS does anything that Linux users dont like they can easily switch to another app that works just as good. the very idea that MS now owns it will drive a good many users away anyway.

I hope that would hold true for Android as well. I pay for Skype, but I have no use for it at all on my computer, I use it exclusively on my Android phone.
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Post  kaddy Sun May 22, 2011 12:06 am

Microshafe reckon they will still support all platforms from what i've read.... we'll see... They will change their mind in future... doesn't the farm owner reassure the sheep before he cuts their throats? lol.

havn't tried ekiga yet... will have to in future
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Post  eldersnake Sun May 22, 2011 7:01 am

Haha, epic analogy there Wink


Especially with Microshaft... as was mentioned in the comments of a TWIL video recently, check out the Microsoft "halloween" papers sometime. Shows what they think of open source and Linux etc. I have no faith in them doing anything good with the Linux version of Skype. Not that I'm concerned for myself, plenty of alternatives anyway and you can actually get as cheap if not cheaper PC to phone calls with Ekiga and the likes, but just annoys me how M$ like to consume everything.
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Post  jonathan Sun May 22, 2011 5:18 pm

Embrace, extend, extinguish.

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