Use old Skype version after 01.08.2014

[666philb]

thanks saintless .... precise version is working straight away for me in tahrpup

[saintless]

Thank you for testing, Cimarron and 666philb!

I'm glad it works for you too and I have no doubt all files work the same way as precise sfs. The changes are the same in each one.

I have one 100% upload from the magnet link and seems it is working too.
Just for information starting Transmission and marking the magnet link in my post and then opening File --> Open URL is enough to download it. Or using simple copy (Ctrl+C) / paste (Ctrl+V) in File -> Open URL

Toni

[mcewanw]

Hmm voice and video chat... well I suppose you could do such things with msn and yahoo so in someways this has been around for years... broadband simply opened it up. Skypes only bonus bunny is its land line connectivity but hey is that such a bonus?

michael

Truly it is technologically pathetic that voice and video and all multimedia is still not seamlessly built in without having to think about it or configure anything.

CU-SeeMe, video chat without voice, was around in 1992, twelve years ago and with voice by early 1994. And credit to Microsoft for Netmeeting with video/voice/chat of late 1996, which even had white-boarding built in (and it was only a few MB download).

http://www.packetizer.com/ipmc/history- ... ferencing/

also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InSoft_Inc.

I gave a presentation of video chatting using Netmeeting with whiteboard from New Zealand to Scotland back in 1999! And in the same year I used to telephone my dad back in Scotland, from New Zealand, via Internet telephony to his landline via one of the several free services that allowed that back then. Yet still we struggle with what is available... Bring back morse code - at least it was reliable.

William

[saintless]

To have real Skype alternative it has to be:

1. Easy to install and use on any OS.

2. Possibility to work with Skype started at the same time using the same audio/video devices. This is needed to make easier for Skype users to test the alternative without loosing communication with their Skype contacts. Even adding second camera aind mic is not an option here - no one will agree to test it this way.

3. Search option to find other users by name or e-mail like in Skype.

4. Option to send files like in Skype.

Without all this included we can not think of real Skype alternative unfortunately... Struggling is our only option at the moment.

Toni

[greengeek]

I understand there are three main ways to achieve what Skype does. The first is the way skype does it (which I can't remember the name of at the moment). Second is the way google does it (webRTE or something) and third is SIP which requires an SIP server in the middle.

I think there will be other skype alternatives for Linux soon. Maybe a development of Linphone, or various other alternatives.

[mikeb]

Nice one on the hacked skype

google is jabber or am I way behind the times on this one...jabber always has had the potential to do all this but has never fully grabbed the moment.... still tends to be seen as a geek backwater.

mike

[ETP]

Thanks saintless! Your precise sfs from your post dated 20th Aug is working well in Blue Pup with the addition of a couple of libs. I started by converting it to a dotpet then uninstalled the inbuilt version (skype-4.2.0.11-wheezy).
Having done that, I searched for and then eliminated all remnants of Skype & rebooted before installing the new pet.

It worked fine but a dependency check revealed a missing lib:

Code: Select all

libQt3Support.so.4

That was resolved by installing the following via PPM:

Code: Select all

libqt4-designer_4.8.5+git192-g085f851+dfsg|Qt 4 designer module
libqt4-qt3support_4.8.5+git192-g085f851+dfsg|Qt 3 compatibility library for Qt 4

Blue is based on Quirky Tahr version 6.0.5 k3-12-6 and 666philb might find the same.

Whilst I do not use Skype myself, I had often wondered why they did not provide a decent video echo test. The answer is revealed if you double left click on the small webcam image in Video settings! (press esc to exit)

Thanks go to everyone who has contributed to these Skype threads and have saved numerous puppies from the pound.

[saintless]

20.09.2014 - Patched versions blocked from today.
The workaround on the first page setting up the account with 4.3.0.37 for autologin still works.

Thank you for sharing this information, ETP. It will be useful for others.

...then uninstalled the inbuilt version (skype-4.2.0.11-wheezy).

I will try to save some troubles for you and others with Skype-4.2.0.11 already installed.
Download this (Edit: Link removed. Doesn't work anymore). Extract the archive and replace old skype executable with the one from the archive. It should be enough. If you decide to test it, please, post here the result.

I made also deb package (Edit: Link removed. Doesn't work anymore). - for DebianDog and any Ubuntu or Debian distro using dpkg/apt-get/aptitude for fixing missing dependencies.

If someone knows download link for skype 4.2.0.11.sfs for puppy that is useful and works on most versions I can rebuild it the same way.

Magnet link for (Edit: Link removed. Doesn't work anymore).

Toni

[ETP]

Thanks once again saintless! I am pleased to report that your Skype-4.2.0.11-executable.zip works fine.
This is a far easier approach, obviating the need to wipe any remnants of the current version and avoiding possible lib & dep problems associated with moving to another version.
I will package the binary up as a fix dotpet for Blue Pup.

[mikeb]

Hey you realise this is
Saintless 1 , Microsoft corporation and billions of dollars 0


mike

[saintless]

Glad the read it works, ETP

Mike, the result could change in no time. First loophole for skype 2.2.0.35 was closed in less than a week. I hope someone with real programming skills will join for searching linux old skype login fixes.
All old Skype versions from here are removed already.

The good news is at least one Russian programmer is working hard on this and the result is much better there. Some questions for linux versions are posted already. Much useful information is available to help us further. There is hope...

Toni

[mikeb]

Ah yes the hide old version boogie...I usually end up looking on third party sites for such . (For java I joined their dev thing by saying I was an airline pilot )... the big boys seem to have a vested interest in pushing new software and it must be more than just a support issue...so whats in there MS? Bit like flash grew to 5-10 times the size with no obvious significant functionality changes...whats the extra code for then?

Well good one for being stubborn and having your own mind...they hate that

mike

[mcewanw]

I think there will be other skype alternatives for Linux soon. Maybe a development of Linphone, or various other alternatives.

Actually, viber is becoming very popular. My partner is now using it more than Skype and it seems to be a very good product from a user's perspective at any rate. Particularly good for mobile to mobile use, but desktop versions are also available (which neatly sync with the corresponding mobile). However, it is another commercial product and the Linux version appears to be for 64bit Linux only:

http://viber.com/products/linux

If open source is to produce competitive products they would have to also work seamlessly from a desktop or a mobile platform.

William

[mcewanw]

Sorry, posted in wrong thread. Moved it.

[l0wt3ch]

Instead of Skype, you might be able to use this.

[mcewanw]

Yes WebRTC based apps seem to offer the potential of a Skype killer, open-standards, browser-based communications application, but who knows how long it will take before we no longer need Skype (or Viber come to that).

William

[technosaurus]

I use linphone + a free phone number from ipkall
Wish I had found this a long time ago.
http://chrisbrasington.tumblr.com/post/ ... ice-number

[ETP]

Thanks go to forum member l0wt3ch who has made available a Firefox pet for testing.
His real find however is “Talky

[saintless]

(Tested with 32.0.1700.107)

If you can run this version of Chromium on your hardware I see no problem to run latest skype 4.3.0.37 also. What is the point to change Skype with Talky then (unless just for the idea boycotting Skype)?
Firefox and Chrome do almost the same as Skype - no support for older versions and new plugins and services do not work on older versions.
Try running Talky with Firefox 3.6. This is what I use on PIII 600Mhz with 256 Mb Ram + Swap file. Then you will see there is no plan B with Talky.
Yes, I know I can get newer hardware and it is not a problem for me fortunately, but I do not want to do it just because someone decided to stop support for older versions.
Unfortunately there are many people in the world who can't buy new hardware and can't use Talky or similar alternative as plan B.

BTW - Ekiga works pretty well on old hardware like mine. Much lighter than Skype 2.2.0.35. The problem is all my contacts from Skype do not use Ekiga or other sip program.

Toni

[ETP]

Hi saintless,

You make some very valid points. My testing was done with Blue running on a Pentium D945 which dates from 2006. I suspect that anyone with lesser specified kit is going to struggle with any form of video communication.
The main attraction of “Talky