Inspired by the thread greengeek has just started about ways to talk to relatives on a local network if they're 'self-isolating', I thought it was worth discussing ways to stay in touch with family & loved ones over the wider internet.
Bearing in mind that many of our relatives are usually firmly wedded to Windows, and see no reason to change (or try Linux-ported chat clients), my recommendation has to go to the best-known (though by no means the 'best'!) video chat client of them all:-
Skype
I know many of you don't trust MyCrudSoft. I'm none too keen on the buggers myself! But the fact remains that, ever since the old 4.3 Linux client fell by the wayside, the 'new', 'SkypeforLinux' preview client has been steadily-improving, release by release, and really is 100% usable in Puppy these days. If you're running a 64-bit Puppy - Xenialpup64 7.5 and Bionicpup64 8.0 are both ideal candidates for this - the Electron-based Skype client just works, with one small workaround.
peebee linked us to the downloads page for the Skype .deb packages quite some time ago. I know a lot of you are in the same boat as myself; friends & family won't even look at anything else, and nowt else will connect with Skype except another Skype client. Consequently, we often have no choice but to use the darned thing whether we want to or not.
Tuxtoo (Stuart Compton) and myself have been experimenting on & off with Smokey01's 'BackSeatDriver' for some months. It's a brilliant concept, although it can be a bit temperemental if you don't do things in precisely the correct order.....and the PSIP part of it is only one small part of what is basically a remote desktop 'teaching' tool. PSIP itself can't, unfortunately, be used in the context we're discussing here, because it's Puppy-only.
Stu has only recently started using 64-bit Pups. We were both in Xenialpup64 last night, so I talked him through downloading & installing the Skype client, just for the hell of it. Notwithstanding the fact that he was on a lowly, Atom-powered netbook last night, and quickly hooked up a cheapo, 'no-name' webcam somebody gave him, after he created an account it just worked, straightaway. Which is quite impressive, all things considered.
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Workarounds.
Stu and myself are both using the same Logitech H340 USB headset, which has its own, 'built-in' soundcard in the rather chunky-looking connector. (It's this item that makes it work so well; ignore what Logitech say in the specs about Windows or macOS only.....it's plug'n'play, and fully-functional with Linux, too). This method totally eliminates the need to faff around trying to get your built-in soundcard working correctly; the H340 has just two controls; a PCM slider, and a Capture slider. Couldn't be simpler......and being a 'headset', rather than head-phones, it has its own, stubby 'boom' microphone built-in.
So long as you remember to set the headset as the default card via the ALSA Wizard/Multiple Sound Card Wizard, and the PCM slider to work as the default with the tray icon, you're laughing. It works perfectly with Skype, and the 64-bit Puppies.
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The download site for the Skype .deb packages, from the main Debian repos, is here:-
https://repo.skype.com/deb/pool/main/s/skypeforlinux/
Microsoft, as usual, seem to have 'coding diarrhoea', and release new versions of this once a week on average! You do NOT need to update this often, although it's worth doing so every 4-6 weeks just to keep up with 'improvements' (!!)
Make sure to uninstall the old via the PPM before installing the new; you cannot install new over the top of the old - it goes mental if you try doing this.Following standard Linux practice, more recent releases of Skype now need to run as user 'Spot'. I've knocked together a wee .pet that simply puts a tiny run-as-spot script in /root/my-applications/bin, and replaces the Skype .desktop entry with one that calls this script, rather than starting the Skype executable directly. I've attached it below.
Do be aware that you'll need to re-install this MenuEntry .pet every time you 'upgrade' Skype, so.....hang onto it, and put it somewhere safe.
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Following these small workarounds, fully-functional Skype in Puppy is, once again, a definite reality these days.
I would seriously recommend the outlay of a few dollars or pounds/whatever on one of these USB headsets, if you can run to it; it's usable just as a set of headphones, even if you never use the microphone (this tucks very neatly out of the way, so never intrudes), simply because the sound-quality is exquisite, and absolutely crystal-clear. And the built-in soundcard makes it an absolute doddle to use, regardless of what your computer's built-in one may happen to be. I've always been a fan of Logitech gear; it may cost a little bit more, but my God! you do get what you pay for. No-nonsense, functional equipment that works well and 'wears' well, too.
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Please bear in mind that this is only one option. The 'Zoom' chat client has been mentioned in recent days; like many others, this has a web-client, accessible via the browser, though you may need a Chromium-based browser to do so, since many of these things don't work very well with Mozilla stuff.
(EDIT:-) Following experiments this last day or two, I can confirm that step's 64-bit client package works a treat in Xenialpup64 & Bionicpup64:-
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=118289
The desktop client works far better than the web client; functionality is definitely limited with the latter. I'm experimenting with the 32-bit .deb package for DPup 'Stretch', but as yet it's not playing ball.....)
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There's also the Google Hangouts web-based chat client. I know this works, 'cos I've used it to chat with my sister.....but Google have already announced plans to drop this later this year.
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I was an enthusiastic advocate of the WIRE VOIP chat client a while back, but it's no longer free; they've moved to a pay-only model, specifically for enterprise users.
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OscarTalks has in the past done builds of Linphone; at one time, this was soft-phone only, though from what I understand this also does video calling now.
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There's an absolute shed-load of VOIP chat clients out there for Linux these days, though how many of these can be made to work with Puppy (or work with your M$/Skype-wedded family & friends), I wouldn't like to say..!!
https://www.ubuntupit.com/top-20-best-l ... -software/
Food for thought, huh?
Mike.
