Re: [PLUG] Older versions of Skype being retired--bad news for linux users

[Thomas Delrue <delrue.thomas@gmail.com>]

On 06/09/2017 02:54 PM, Walt Mankowski wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 09, 2017 at 02:23:05PM -0400, Thomas Delrue wrote:
>> On 06/09/2017 02:14 PM, prushik wrote:
>>> Sounds good to me. Good riddance, [...snip...]. Now nobody can 
>>> argue with me when I refuse to use Skype.
>> 
>> Right on! If I want my conversations to be recorded and processed,
>>  I'll do that myself, thankyouverymuch.

I wanted to include these links as well but hit Send to quickly:
	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Prism_slide_5.jpg
	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PRISM_Collection_Details.jpg
	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Prism-slide-8.jpg
And that's just from "The Only USG Agency That Actually Listens to US
Citizens".

> The problem, of course, is that you need both ends of the 
> conversation to be using the same software.

I'm not trying to defend Jitsi here... I don't care enough about it to
do so - in fact, if something better is out there, I'll use it.
But...
I'm not sure you're trying to use that sentence as an argument in favor
of "but... but ... skype!" or not, but if you are, I find it a weak
argument.
Because this is more true of Skype than it is of (i.e.) Jitsi; and
installing something is not quite out of reach of your regular user. How
hard is doubleclick-next-accept-next-next-finish?
Either you're in a situation where you have to keep telling your
friendly users not to do it because they know how to do it and are
installing stuff they shouldn't, in which case they can install Jitsi
just as well; or you have it properly locked down, meaning you know what
you're doing & you can push jitsi to the machines that need it through
your regular process as well.
I've guided my mom over the phone with installing and configuring Jitsi
on her (Windows, I know, I know...) laptop and she know *nothing* about
computers except for how to start solitaire or "The Internet" (a browser).

On top of that, Jitsi is just a SIP client, so you DON'T need the same
software on either side. You just need any SIP client.
With Skype, you DO need Skype on the other side...

> Like it or not, Skype has become the de facto standard for video 
> calls. It runs on most desktop and mobile platforms, and you can 
> generally rely on non-techies to have it installed.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jitsi
	Operating system: Linux, Mac OS X, Windows (all Java supported)

It's just a SIP client, so in a way it is more versatile than Skype
(which ISN'T SIP).

Windows is also the de facto standard, but here we are, on a *LUG*
mailing list all advocating in our own little way for this great
alternative called Linux; de facto standards are not always the best.
See above for 'non-techies' installing software, they know full well how
to install software because they do it all the time and then call you
for support when the thing runs slow or craps out! That's how BonziBuddy
became the nuisance it was.

That being said, you're right about this though: skype is like 'bic' or
like 'googling'. It's become a verb and that's indeed a big hump that
needs to be crossed: you don't need Skype(tm) to 'skype'...

> At Drexel we used it all the time to communicate with our 
> collaborators around the world.

With Jitsi, you don't need a "Business Subscription" in order to do
video conferencing with more than 2 people; it's just SIP(*). Last time
I checked, with Skype, you need to pay them money to do that.

> Does Jitsi support screen sharing?

Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jitsi#Features

> If so, how well does it work on 32-bit linux boxes with less than 2
> GB of RAM?

I don't know, I haven't tried. How well does the latest version of Skype
work on such a config? Without trying to sound sarcastic or snarky: is
that an actual config you use for this type of thing?
I'd say: give it a go and let me know. I'm curious to see whether Jitsi
runs on that but I wouldn't be surprised if its ok (I'll settle for 'ok'
or 'acceptable' instead of 'great' on this for now ;) ).



(*) You may need a SIP provider but you can find those easily or may
even have one already. On the subject of security: Jitsi supports E2E
encryption (through ZRTP & SRTP) so with the right precautions and
key-exchanging, your SIP provider does not have the ability to listen in
- much unlike Skype.

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