I've used this for a while on my linux box... I quit using it since anytime skype has a hiccup it would kill my pidgin session, but then again Skype on Linux is technically still beta. That all said, the plugin works great.

orbital64

anyone tried this yet? the door 2 skype's proprietary protocol is opening ...........keep it coming

mr_oshodi

@JiveMasterT: Totally agree: If one has to have the skype app running, then what's the point of having yet another software package installed? It doesn't seem to offer anything aside from a non-determinism in the UI -- which, like any UI wart, starts out insignificant but grows over time to be a real detractor.

--

I disagree that skype's proprietary doors are opening, however, no matter how much I'd like to see that happen: skype IS P2P, and it's usually really good and always better than a phone conversation in terms of call quality over long distance. It's not going to become an open client, though, not in this lifetime, simply because it needs to protect its single path of distribution.

Like Festoon before it, ultimately, this new plugin doesn't seem to bring enough to the table to warrant maintaining yet another software package.

lunchbox

For the windows users among us:
If you are using Miranda-IM, there's an analogous plugin for doing the exact same thing. (Can't post a link right now, since [addons.miranda-im.org] is currently down)

All of those plugins don't speak skype natively, though, since the proprietary protocol hasn't been reverse engineered yet (and probably will not be even in the not so near future). That is, they use skype through its API which at most gives you chat-facilities in your usual IM-client.

stf

@JiveMasterT: I used the SkylLian for running Skype chat on Trillan, and that also needs to have Skype running. I read somewhere that it may have something to do w/ the fact that Skype is P2P.

gpmpk

I looked at it but was turned off by the fact that I need to also have skype running...

JiveMasterT

I think you're all overlooking the fact that this is a very early version of the plug-in. Of course it doesn't look good right now - first versions always do. But the fact that someone is making the effort to start something like this is commendable.

Hopefully in the future, the plug-in will improve enormously. Until then, it's something to keep an eye on.

Mark

I used it, and it works like a charm.

Andrew Min

> The bad news: Voice calls can't be made from Pidgin
Calls can be made by right-clicking on buddies and clicking "Call" or by calling using the account menu (as shown in the screenshot in this post)
> you have to keep the Skype application running in the background
I don't like this either, but if you're going to have skype running to talk to your skype buddies, you might as well have it integrated into a uniform UI
> The plug-in also imports every out-call and phone contact in your Skype account
> as a contact, so heavy Skype users might keep this plug-in disabled by default.
This is an optional setting in the account settings. If you turn this off you won't have this problem. It's just on by default because more people than not prefer them there since it's possible to call (and pretty soon text message) them.

bigbrownchunx

@BIGBROWNCHUNX : yeah, someone made pretty much the same comments on the original article page (might be the developer).

Being able to call and hide your regular phone numbers is pretty sweet. All I need now is webcam ability and text messaging and I'll be as happy as a pig in mud!

Mark

Skype seems to approve of his plug-in which is good :

[share.skype.com]

Mark

I'm using this right now and couldn't be happier - most of my skype usage is text-based so not having built in voice support is not a big minus for me.

For folks cribbing about having to run skype despite the plugin - that's a limitation of skype, not the plugin. To access the skype API which is the only *permitted* way for external apps to talk to skype, the skype client has to be running.

However, the plugin can put the skype client into silent mode that turns off all but 1 alert from skype.

Balaji

@T3MUJIN the value is that skype is too cluttered and for people like me and BALAJI, who use skype primarily for texting, this plugin is a savior.

~Karolis

Must have Skype running on the background, like all apps that use Skype API, and doesn't support voice communications, Pidgin doesn't support this yet (will it ever will?), so the real value of Skype plugin for Pidgin is almost zero...

t3mujin