Looks like it won’t be long and Linux users, and Android users will be looking for a different way to communicate with each other. Microsoft has bought Skype, and their track record has been anytime they buy something that is cross platform, they kill off the support for other platforms and lock them out with ever changing protocols.
I will begin looking for something pretty soon. 
ttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42967056/ns/business-us_business/
This is the of linux chat, I must find something new for chat. Microsoft will try to kill skype for linux.
Sorry the end of linux chat.
When I first read the post, I thought it an April fools.
Given both my 85+ year old mother and I use openSUSE Linux for video chatting with Skype (3 to 4 times a week, often more) this does have me worried. We both really look forward to those chats, as we live in different continents, it is VERY expensive and difficult for me to visit her in person, and my mother is not getting any younger.
While I believe Microsoft will continue with Skype support for MacIntosh, my guess is they will quickly drop any Linux support.
This is a very sad news day for me. 
It is very bad news for me because I use also skype to give help in people who learn developing(C++ and Qt developing). These people are from this forum and now I will have not this opportunity. Microsoft will cancel the linux skype. And as I thing now the new skype program will be compatible only with windows. Unfortunately I must erase it from my pc and from my server.
Its likely best to wait and see how things turn out, before erasing anything … although I suspect if Microsoft does purchase Skype, they will stop Skype maintenance for Linux and quite possibly simply remove it from the Skype site.
Still at this stage that is only speculation and its better to be certain before taking any precipitous action.
I do think, thou, its time to look again at some other applications for video chatting such as :
camfrog - Camfrog Video Chat Rooms & Live Webcams!
google talk - Google Chat - Chat with family and friends
ekiga - Ekiga
While I have seen mention of these applications before, I have never taken the time to check them out.
Are these compatible with openSUSE or with linux(Except Ekiga which is for Gnome). If you find something could you warn me with PM??
Thank you oldcpu.
Just heard that on radio, looked in chit-chat and the thread was there already.
It’s rather a good news for me. It will save me some explanations of why I don’t use it and some time by not having to install it anymore. Well done Balmy!
I didn’t use skype and just out of curiousity just installed the google - chat/talk/phone thingy which immediately recognized my Linux - openSUSE platform and was able to make pc to land-line phone call without a hitch.
Sorry for you folks. I don’t use it though. Too expensive.
I guess Google Chat is the next best, though I have not tried to install the plugin with 11.4
There were some issues IIRC in 11.3
Thats good news.
I want to maintain the capability to conduct a user friendly video chat with my 85+ year old mother via her openSUSE-11.3 PC and the internet. It helps bring us ‘closer’ even though we live in different continents separated by the Atlantic Ocean.
I may install google-chat on a couple of my PCs (laptop and desktop, each with own webcam) and test it, and if works ok, then I’ll install it on my mother’s PC (I can access her PC with vnc and also with nx). Hopefully google-chat for Linux is very user friendly so it will not be too difficult for my mother to use.
Hi,
You installed the pplug-in in 11.4 ? Like caf, I did install it in 11.3 but never managed to get it to work.
From my experience google talk works really nice.
Best regards,
Greg
Has anyone used this Linphone thingy (voip client) installed by default in 11.4 (on the Internet menu tab) and if so with what?
Sadly, that won’t matter to many.
Family, friends, coworkers - everyone uses Skype these days. Just because I (we) change does not mean they will also move to something else, they have no incentive for change.
Skype claims to have over half a billion users - that’s supposedly 1 in 14 people, with 40+ million using it daily. Calling that huge is an understatement!
And you also have to remember most of us who do use skype don’t just use it on the PC, you’ve got it on the iphone, andriod - hell I use it on my symbian phone. Can anything out right now really compete with this?
The only realistic alternative is Google Talk, but as I understand it there is no client for Linux, the plugin only lets you talk to people when you are using Gmail? I don’t quite like the idea of that either.
My 85+ year old mother mostly only talks to me on Skype. She uses Linux and she will change to the software I ask her to change to. I am fortunate that way.
“understand” reads to be a bit vague to me. I was told one needed a Gmail account but that does not mean one has to be an active Gmail user. I can’t say that for certain, but I suspect neither can you (say that for certain). We need definitive information, as I don’t think negative speculation will help much for if negative inappropriately then a real alternative could be overlooked.
No incentive unless of course Microsoft mistakenly gives them incentive. Microsoft wants to get into the mobile phone market that Android has taken the lead in. It would not surprise me to have Microsoft ensure Skype won’t work with Android but WILL work with a Microsoft product.
At that point the many Android users may look for an alternative and that could offer incentive for many to switch away from Skype.
Speculation ? Most definitely speculation. But for now what is important (to me) is to see how this plays out, while at the same time ensuring I can have a good video chat with one and only one relative (my mother) who lives in a different continent. I’m sure everyone else has their own motives for wishing different approaches and I wish them all the best, but my efforts go toward looking at what I want to use video chat for.
Since sometimes reading “lol” doesn’t deliver the same punch as actually hearing your friend laugh at your jokes, you can now use voice and video capabilities in your Gmail, iGoogle and orkut chat. From within these services, you can have an actual conversation with someone (seriously, out loud), or even chat face to face over video.
About computer to computer voice and video chat - Google Chat Help
So you can use it from iGoogle too… Still I don’t like the concept of having to rely on web interface and my browser.
Yep, totally agree.
I personally used Skype for nearly a year as a total replacement for my landline 5$ (and another ~7$ for a proper number) for unlimited national calling is a lot better than paying ~50$ a month for a regular phone. And I don’t think google’s telephony is as international available as Skype is (at least not in my country). Which really narrows my options.
On Tue, 10 May 2011 22:36:01 +0530, kozzington
<kozzington@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
> The only realistic alternative is Google Talk, but as I understand it
> there is no client for Linux, the plugin only lets you talk to people
> when you are using Gmail? I don’t quite like the idea of that either.
for me it’s pretty much the same if i have to use the skype app., or the
gmail client. (i do use gmail, but via fetchmail / SMTP, so normally don’t
open the web interface.) what concerns me re. skype is that they’ll start
to chage money for using even the basic service; don’t really see any
other way to make profit from their big investment.
google will probably reamain free in the near future, and i’ve tried it
out under oS 11.3. there were some obstacles, but in the end i got it to
work. somebody else mentioned it installed under 11.4 w/o problems, so i’m
hopeful…
(my old mother on the other side of the world, berlin, uses windows still,
but i hope i’ll be able to talk her thru’ installing the gmail talk client
herself. some time next year i’ll visit, and then try to make a similar
arrangement as oldcpu has.)
–
phani.