Skype For Linux To Be Open-Sourced "In the Nearest Future" 175
rysiek writes "Seems like there might be a revolution in the works, as far as VoIP software for Linux is concerned. After mailing Skype support about Skype providing Mandriva RPM packages, Olivier Faurax got an answer which suggests that the Linux Skype client will be open-sourced. After asking for verification of whether that was the case, the tech support answer claimed it is going to happen, and that it's supposed to happen 'in the nearest future.' Now, this probably only means the client (the underlying protocol will probably be handled by a binary-only library), but even if that's the case, it seems like there is still reason to celebrate."
GUI Code Only (Score:5, Insightful)
Not quite open source then, but I guess it's better than the situation right now. Still no way of ensuring there are no backdoors in the encryption though.
Re:GUI Code Only (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:GUI Code Only (Score:2, Insightful)
You're assuming you can feed anything into their comms layer. I suspect there'll be a heavy duty validation / sanity checking at that point already.
Seems largely pointless. (Score:5, Insightful)
Obviously, this is exactly why Skype would be OSSing the GUI and not the protocol binary blob; but it is also why the news isn't of much interest. As long as basically all the program's important functions depend on a binary blob you can't see what it is doing, you can't port it to other architectures, you are really no better off than if the whole thing were binary.
Re:WTF is "the nearest future"? (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, but it'll take infinitely long to get there...
protocol will probably be ... binary-only (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:GUI Code Only (Score:4, Insightful)
If you have the client code, you can pre-encrypt before the communications layer if you need the added security.
*Could* that be possible, you would lose interoperability with windows clients, so why not relying on one of the truly foss voip projects availble?
Nope (Score:5, Insightful)
I call bullshit. I think it's just a tech support guy misunderstanding (and it seems a bi-lingual conversation so the chances of that are even higher).
Open-sourcing Skype is very different to allowing Mandriva to add a non-trademarked icon to the Skype software (a bit like bundling Firefox - fine so long as you respect the trademark on the name and/or the logo and their requirements), or put a Mandriva icon onto the package etc. The two are discussed interchangeably and I don't see how they are related.
I think it's more likely a massive misunderstanding on the basis of zero evidence / poor translation. At best, I reckon that Skype for Linux will allow itself to be packaged more easily.
Abandonware in 3....2....1.... (Score:5, Insightful)
This is the same old story. The business doesn't want to support a Linux client so they open the code they have and abandon it.
I didn't bother reading TFA so maybe someone else can inform us how would one go about acquiring the binary blob in the future? What distros will the blob track? What about an ARM build? Ebay wants to limit their dev hours but abandoning the gui doesn't help them much.
Which is why I think they'll just abandon the OS altogether sooner rather than later and put a happy face on it with this stunt.
Re:GUI Code Only (Score:4, Insightful)
Because a truly foss voip project requires a server or open ports on at least 1 side.
Skype requires only 2 clients that speak the same protocol, the skype network handles the rest.
Re:Cautiously Optimistic? (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps you jumped to Linux without considering that it wasn't the end all be all solutions that you were told it was?
When switching from Windows to Linux you give certain things up, when switching from Windows to MacOS you give certain things up, and indeed when switching from Linux to * you give certain things up. If you didn't, they would all be equal/the exact same and you'd have no reason to switch at all.
Re:Seems largely pointless. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:GUI Code Only (Score:5, Insightful)
It wouldn't work at all. Nearly all voip, and I'm sure Skype is no exception, uses lossy compression for the audio. If you stuff encrypted data in, you'll just get garbage out.
It is not opensource, until... (Score:3, Insightful)
The source is not open, until I can build and use it on FreeBSD/amd64 or some other "exotic" platform like that...
Interestingly, the oft-criticized Java has always been more "open-sourced" (even before going GPL), than what the excited write-up is preparing to "celebrate"... Must all be about managing expectations...
Re:GUI Code Only (Score:1, Insightful)
How do you encrypt the audio?
Assuming you are doing the encryption before the comms layer then..
a) you could have done this already without the source code.
b) you would have to do it the old way - analog style encryption in the digital domain. As the data is then put through lossy audio compression afterwards, this would leave very little bandwidth for the speech. The lossy compression may make most kinds of audio encryption impossible anyway.
Re:GUI Code Only (Score:3, Insightful)
Because a truly foss voip project requires a server or open ports on at least 1 side.
Plenty of free public SIP servers on the internet...
Skype requires only 2 clients that speak the same protocol, the skype network handles the rest.
I'm unclear on why you think that relying on the existence of a single proprietary network is better than relying on a SIP server (which may or may not be operated by yourself and you can switch to a different independent server if you want).