
Skype Open Source "in the nearest future" - madars
http://ofaurax.free.fr/blog/index.php5/2009-10-31-00h31-0100.xml
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mcav
Looks like the skype client for _linux_ might become open source. Though I
could see them keeping a closed-source API library and just having the UI be
open source.

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pyre
It would definitely be a step up. One of the most annoying things about Skype
for Linux used to be audio problems (especially with pulseaudio when it was
new). There _still_ are issues I have with it (sometimes audio will 'die'
either audio-in or audio-out requiring a restart of Skype to get it working
again) though to a lesser extent.

If they could separate out the business logic (communicating with the network,
using proprietary protocals, etc) from the interface logic (UI, access to
local audio-in/out, access to local video-in/out) it would be a major boon.
Though open-sourcing the whole thing might be nice, it could have unexpected
consequences (easier to filter Skype with DPI, allow NSA/CIA/etc to tap calls,
etc).

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eru
Open-sourcing the whole thing should make it harder for the NSA to tap calls.
(Or at least to decrypt what they intercept.)

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pyre
I don't know how reliable it is, but I've heard that the reason that the NSA
can't tap Skype calls is because the protocol/keys/whatever is changed behind
the scenes every-so-often.

~~~
Create
<http://www.secdev.org/conf/skype_BHEU06.handout.pdf>

~~~
bensummers
Good read. Skype is a scary application -- but then, running anyone's code on
your computer is making a big leap of faith.

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st3fan
I wonder how serious this is. The guy got an email from someone in the support
department, so how reliable is that info?

It would be a really good move though. For Skype on all platforms.

~~~
catch23
not serious. if the courts can't even decide who owns the IP, I doubt the
source is going to be free any time soon.

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davidw
Between the lawsuits and everything else: I'll believe it when I see it.

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oomkiller
Awesome, now we can finally get proper support for Skype in FreeSWITCH and
Asterisk. Everything up to this point (with the exception of the closed-source
Asterisk beta) has been a hack.

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zandorg
Maybe Marc Andreessen's influence?

