A walk with the Skype VoIP client

PHONE BANDIT

Article from Issue 63/2006
Author(s):

The free but proprietary Skype is a popular calling option.

If you use Voice-over-IP (VoIP), you are probably familiar with the feeling that the world just keeps shrinking. Calling a friend in Japan cost a fortune just a few years ago, but thanks to VoIP, you can now call remote corners of the globe for free, and without sacrificing voice quality – assuming you have a computer with a broadband Internet connection. VoIP technology is putting a lot of pressure on the telcos. Niklas Zennström, the inventor of the Skype [1] VoIP client, recently stated in a Spiegel Online interview that Vodafone is trying to prevent wireless high-speed Skype access to the Internet. This is unlikely to faze Niklas Zennström: his free client is currently storming the desktops – Skype is easy to install and easy to use, and it offers usable voice quality. Of course, some critics have taken aim at Skype: the program is closed source, so you have trust the company’s promises when it comes to security. And the client uses a closed, proprietary protocol, rather than keeping to known VoIP standards, at least at the present time. Does this make Skype a bad thing?

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
Print Issues
Digital Issues
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Print Subs
Digisubs
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Skype Plugin for Asterisk

    Digium, makers of Asterisk telephony solutions, and VoIP provider Skype have announced a one-year development period for a Skype plugin to the free telephony service.

    more »
  • Skype Beta: Phoning and Sharing Desktops

    Skype has released a beta version of its chat and VoIP program for Linux under the code-name Talking Screens. Despite the minor version number change, the software has many new features.

    more »
  • Skype for Linux

    The old Microsoft gave the cold shoulder to Skype for Linux, neither updating it nor equipping it with new features. The new Microsoft promises to do better, with a brand new alpha prerelease version of a Linux client for the famous telephony tool.

    more »
  • VoIP Clients

    Looking for a softphone? We compare five Linux-ready VoIP clients.

    more »
  • Microsoft Takes Skype for Linux Out of Alpha

    The Skype Linux client now has almost the same capabilities that it enjoys on other platforms.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus

Visit Our Shop

Trial Subscription

Digital Subscription

Subscribe

Direct Download

Read full article as PDF:

VoIP_with_Skype.pdf (192.44 kB)

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Desktop Events Hardware Linux Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source