skype – I Heart Ubuntu

Run Multiple Instances of Skype 4.0

Art Vandalay — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 10:24:00 +0000

I have different professorial groups that I stay in touch with online. The old method of running multiple Skype instances in Ubuntu worked great with older versions of Ubuntu using GNOME, but times changes and so do our desktops. In Ubuntu with Unity it is still possible to run multiple Skypes.

Ready?

You’ll need to install Skype 4.x if you havent done so yet. Just head over to skype.com and download the linux version and install. The newest version is already in the Ubuntu Software Center as well.

Now you need to create new copies of the installed Skype. Open up a terminal and run the following commands:

cp -r ~/.Skype ~/.Skype.first
cp -r ~/.Skype ~/.Skype.second

So now you have two installed instances of Skype. That was pretty dang easy, right? We now need to link up to those, so lets create a launcher for the two different Skypes.

This might be redundant, but lets make sure you have this installed first. Install gnome-panel package using this terminal command….

sudo apt-get install –no-install-recommends gnome-panel

Now make a folder off of your home directory to put the launchers in. I made one called “myapps”, but you can name yours whatever you want. Open a terminal and type this:

mkdir myapps

Now run this command:

gnome-desktop-item-edit ~/myapps/ –create-new

A new launcher box will pop up. Name it what you want (Skype1) and pick an icon what you want (download use the one down below if you’d like). Now type in the command field the following command:

skype –dbpath=~/.Skype.first

And lets do this again for the second Skype launcher (name it Skype2 or whatever)…

gnome-desktop-item-edit ~/myapps/ –create-new

and also…

skype –dbpath=~/.Skype.second

So your launchers are both made and can be found in your new /home/myapps directory. Open up your file browser and go there and you should see the two new instances of Skype. Click the first one and after it opens, pin it or lock it to your Ubuntu Unity launcher. Do the same with the second and lock it to the launcher.

THATS IT. Whew! Now you can run multiple instances of Skype in the newest versions of Ubuntu!

Jitsi Skype Alternative

Art Vandalay — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:09:00 +0000

With Skype becoming more and more intrusive now that Microsoft has taken it over, people are looking for alternatives (me included). One Skype alternative that has come to light is the all-in-one app called Jitsi.

Jitsi is an audio/video and chat communicator that supports protocols such as Google Talk, SIP, XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, ICQ, and Bonjour and many other useful features like conference calls, desktop sharing and Jitsi is multi platform (Linux, Mac, Windows). Jitsi is Open Source / Free Software, and is available under the terms of the LGPL.

One of the nice features Jitsi holds over Skype is encrypted instant messaging and call encryption with SRTP and ZRTP.

Jitsi is under active development and the following list of features will probably evolve rapidly so check it out…

http://jitsi.org/

To use the Jitsi debian/ubuntu repository just download and install Jitsi’s DEB PACKAGE. It will automatically add their repository to your system so that it will keep Jitsi up to date.

Skype for Linux Upgraded to 4.0

Art Vandalay — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:16:00 +0000

Everyone who uses Skype can rejoice. The UI for Skype on Linux has been enhanced to that of what Windows users have been accustomed to now for some time.

Some of us dont have the easy option of using other chat/video programs like Google+ or ICQ (which doesnt work in Ubuntu) as many friends and relatives are in Skype already, especially overseas friends & family.

The new Skype integrates Skype WiFi nicely and will come in handy when travelling and you find some hotspots. The last time I was in Europe I used Skype on my little Acer InspireOne netbook to make calls back to the states and it worked well, although many netbook users with Ubuntu may recall a serious bug with the volume controls, forcing most of us who use Skype to install “pavucontrol” as a work around.

The new Skype is perfect on most machines, but the volume problem oo the microphone not working properly still lingers on people with netbooks. The fix is simple. While in the new Skype 4.x, open up the “options” and then “sound devices” and there should be a flag note prompting you to open up Pulse Audio (with a button to click onto). Click that button and go to the input tab, unlock the left/right speakers so you can slide the mic volumes separately. Now put the volume for the lefthand mic down to zero, and leave the righthand mic at 100%. That should do it. Close out of the PulseAudio settings and your Skype mic will work fine.

Skype is also well integrated with the top panel in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS with nice new icons. You can download the newest version of Skype for Linux here:

http://skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux/

Use Skype Instead of Google Voice

Art Vandalay — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:55:00 +0000

Do you really need Google services for your daily activities? No, you don’t. Because with Ubuntu you have the right replacement for whatever Google Service you may be using. In the case of Google Voice the answer in Ubuntu is Skype.

Skype is free software (as in beer) which lets you chat with your friends, call mobile phones, landlines and even send SMS. It is an extremely popular software and it can count on a community of several million users. In other words, Skype is the most common and popular software in this segment, and outperforms Google Voice on almost everything.

Google Voice is, in fact, the answer of Mountain View to the growing popularity of Skype. With a few cons. Because, for example, there is no way to contact most of the people you may know using Google Voice, as it is not as common as Skype and also because, for example, European users are still not able to purchase credit and call mobiles or landlines.

Prices for Skype calls are extremely competitive, at least if compared with prices provided by your operator, and typing SMS with the help of a fully-featured keyboard can surely be a plus. Skype is also available for almost every platform around, including Android and iOS, so that you will be able to always have access to your account and contacts, taking advantage of the extremely cheap rates offered by Skype even while you are on the move.

Same with SMS, with Skype able to send text message to and from any place on earth, a must-have for those having close contacts with friends, colleagues or customers abroad. Sadly, Skype is not free as in speech and you have to agree with the typical proprietary software EULA before being able to use it. It can be downloaded for free, but you won’t be able to modify, redistribute, or take a look at the code.

In newer versions of Ubuntu you can find Skype in the Ubuntu Software Center available for installation. Skype can also be downloaded from the official website, where the developers provide several different packages able to fit any flavor of Ubuntu.

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux/

Using Multiple Skype Accounts at the Same Time

Jonas Grumby — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:03:00 +0000

I am using Skype more and more these days for family and for business and it is nice to separate these accounts, yet still run them at the same time. So this is a quick tutorial to run multiple Skype accounts at the same time. And its really easy to do for Ubuntu users.

right click your panel or desktop to create a new application launcher.
for the name you can put Skype (or Skype2, whatever you want)
for the command type in “skype secondary“
click OK and you are all set!

If you want to run more than one instance of Skype you can do it now.

How-to fix Skype not opening after Skype update issue

Jonas Grumby — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:46:00 +0000

If Ubuntu users had Skype and upgraded to version 2.2.0.25 recently via the Update Manager some users will notice that Skype no longer opens. If these users have not been able to fix the issue just yet then I can explain what is taking place.

If a user was to open their terminal and type “skype” (without the quotes) they would see the program open.

If Skype opens then this solution will work:

The application that must be open is the Main Menu settings application:

in Unity: click Ubuntu logo and type “main menu” in the search bar.
In Ubuntu Classic select – System > Preferences > Main Menu

Now click on Internet under the word menu then you will see a the options under your Internet menu.

Highlight Skype then click Properties…

This will open a window such as below. The user wants to change the boxes to look like this one; specifically the command. The command box needs to be the command that the user typed into the terminal to open skype originally.

Click close and try to open Skype again. If Skype opens congratulations!!!

POLL: Will You Still Use Skype?

Jonas Grumby — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:05:00 +0000

By now many of you have heard that Microsoft will be purchasing Skype. You can read more about it here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1385472/Microsoft-buy-internet-phone-service-Skype-8-5bn.html

and here: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/10/technology/microsoft_skype/index.htm?hpt=T1

Will this change your perception of Skype now and will you consider switching to a more open source audio/video solution for linux users? Please take our poll here: Thanks!

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