reminder: proprietary app and propritary protocol
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tzafrir Dec 20, 2005 6:26 AM EDT |
Just a reminder to you all: using Skype means being locked into that vendor-specific protocol that will not inter-operate with any other vendor. To get an idea of what interoperability means, take a look at http://sipphone.com/numbers/ . SipPhone.com (by our well-known PR man Robertson) has a nice and useful client called Gizmo: http://gizmoproject.com/ . Another alternative is Google Talk. They use a Jabber-based protocol and seems on the way of standardizing it: http://www.jabber.org/press/2005-12-15.shtml , http://libjingle.sf.net/ . They don't support server-to-server communication, which is actually the main advantage of Jabber, but at least there is hope for interoperability. OTOH, Skype will not allow anybody else to use they network. The license of published API only allows interactive clients, so it can't be used for gateways to the Skype nework. And attempts to reverse-engeneer the protocol have so far failed. So do yourself a favour: stay away from Skype, because at some point they won't care enough of Linux users (or of your specific platform) and you'll be stuck. |
| colesen9 Dec 20, 2005 2:48 PM EDT |
"And attempts to reverse-engeneer the protocol have so far failed.". If true then hallelujah (allthough I not long ago saw a headline about some company that claimed they had done it). Because the phone companies who also happen to own the Internet wires would very much like to block Skype because it eats away at their lucrative profits off regular phone usage. I hope they are never successful in blocking anything - whether Skype or anything else. Because it is wrong. Only the police should have such powers. The Internet wires should not be a play ground for free wheeling capitalism. Suppose all freeways were toll roads and the owners also ran a taxi service. They would of course try to block any other taxi service. Bits are bits. If the phone companies can't make ends meet then instead allow them to raise their fees for Internet usage. Besides, I have used Skype between EU and US from my Linux box. It works very well. And for now I see no reason to not continue using it. "... and you'll be stuck". There's plenty of competition on the way from everywhere to keep Skype competitive. I won't be stuck in anything. |
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