Tuesday, March 13, 2012
iheartubuntu
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.
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5 comments:
"European users are still not able to purchase credit and call mobiles or landlines..."
Nooooooo isn't correct.
I'm Italian and I purchased credit and I can call all number in Italy!
Now Skype is a property of Microsoft: brrrrrrrrrrr!
I just checked again. It doesnt appear I can create a Google Voice phone # from Italy. How are you doing it?
Also... Microsoft is VERY evil... but Google is just as big and becoming evil as well.
We are faced with difficult challenges, I admit.
It's worth noting that Google Voice and Skype came from very different origins and goals so you will find this reflected in their offerings. Google Voice is an evolution of the Grand Central service for having one number forward to multiple devices and Skype originally was just a glorified IM client, with phone numbers and such added later. Which you use will be highly dependent upon your needs.
And unfortunately Skype for Linux isn't very well maintained, and I don't see that changing with the acquisition by Microsoft (in fact, I fully expect it to be dropped). It doesn't work on my desktop and as closed source software my options for debugging are severely limited.
Honestly I wouldn't categorically recommend one over the other. It wholly depends on your needs and which one actually works on your system and configuration. Either way you're using a closed source application and network managed by a large corporation.
The MS acquisition of Skype was a strange one for me. I too felt they would probably drop it at some point. Whenever Im in Europe Skype is the #1 app for net calls and video calls. Its the same with ICQ especially in the eastern block. When AOL bought ICQ I also thought that was strange.
I would recommend Jitsi (Jitsi.org). Its a cross platform LGPL client wtitten in Java. If one wishes to get away from closed corporate platforms, Skype is not the answer.
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