>> And your point is?
>
> it is easy to claim the question was clear when no one can point to
> your answer and say, Yep he understood the question! or not.
>
Well i understood the question perfectly, but i just don’t know an
alternative for skype for linux.
I posted my reaction because you gave him a link so he could ask his
questions better, while his question was straightforward and clear.
He wants an alternative for skype.
Im just dont’t see how he could have asked it any clearer than that.
If it isn’t clear then why not simply ask him what you need to know if
someone wants to help instead of guessing.
I don’t know… it just felt a bit rude to give him a link to ask questions
better, it’s like saying he’s stupid or something.
I’m 100% sure you didn’t mean that, but that’s how i would see it if it were
a reply to a post of mine.
I’m no expert on this subject, but I casually browsed around for options some time back. What I found was that skype uses its own proprietary voip protocol. That means that if you want do do voice chat, you must make a skype-to-skype connection in order to use it for free. You can pay for skype service, which would allow you to call any landline or cell phone through skype.
Most other voip software under linux uses a different protocol (I can’t remember what it’s called). Therefore, to answer your question, if you have a lot of friends who are skype users, you may have to use skype also in order to communicate with them. Otherwise you have a lot of other options (such as ekiga) using a different protocol.
If all you’re interested in is doing text chats, you can use pidgin or kopete to send instant messages.
I hope I answered the question. As I said, I know very little about it, but I thought I’d share what I do know.
i am the dummy who couldn’t understand that “Is there a real
alternative to skype that works really well on Linux?” meant the same
as "Is there an open source program using Skype proprietary protocols
for video, audio and off net phone calls?
had i figured that out (as did all others) i would have answered: No.
i’ll keep practicing reading English until i can do it as well as all
others here.
> ok, i give up…
>
> i am the dummy who couldn’t understand that “Is there a real
> alternative to skype that works really well on Linux?” meant the same
> as "Is there an open source program using Skype proprietary protocols
> for video, audio and off net phone calls?
Well i thought it means that he want another application that does the same
as skype and runs well on linux.
He didn’t say it would have to use skype’s proprietary protocols or that it
would have to be open source, he would/should have said that if that’s what
he wanted.
>
Never give up, and you’re not dumb.
Sorry if i made you feel that way, that was never my intension.