Skype Releases Brand New Linux Client Making Use Of WebRTC

[Luke_Wolf]

Well, an idiot won't grasp C to begin with. You have to be smart to wield it. Of course you can wield it wrongly and do stupid thing with it, but no language is safe from that.
It takes a high(er) level language to let idiots write idiotic code

About the highlighted part, you have to ask Linus

Just writing C code takes about as much intelligence as writing Javascript in spite of what Torvalds might tell you, it's writing good idiomatic C that isn't a leaky piece of shit that's difficult, which boils down to C being an incredibly unsafe language to work in. The idea that it being more difficult to program correctly in makes the resultant programs better is foolish because the barrier to entry isn't particularly high, and Java's substantially higher actual barrier to entry (Checked Exceptions, forced naming structure, etc) before the code will even actually compile doesn't result in better programs than C at the lowest common denominator end of things. On the other hand the language features of higher level languages means that a skilled developer can write better code easier (By higher level in this case I mean things like C++, Java, or C# not things like Javascript).

[GreatEmerald]

As already explained above by Ronshere, Tox Project (tox.chat) is not Tox: "They are NSA Officers writing Botnet software" https://blog.tox.im/2016/04/01/litigation/

Nope, it's the other way round. The tox.im domain was registered by a person who went rogue, and thus all actual developers had to move to tox.chat instead. Thus the former is now used as a platform to spread lies.

Go talk to the actual developers if you want more details, they're there on Freenode.

[Azrael5]

skype is still 32bit on linux

[halo9en]

Nope, it's the other way round. The tox.im domain was registered by a person who went rogue, and thus all actual developers had to move to tox.chat instead. Thus the former is now used as a platform to spread lies.

Go talk to the actual developers if you want more details, they're there on Freenode.

Got it, my bad. Thanks for clarifying.

[DrYak]

This is also indirectly excellent news for opensource folks :

- The fact that this is simply a desktopified webapp (id est, it's basically web.skype.com running in its own chromium-based renderer) means that Microsoft is considering the web api (a mix of XML and JSON according to those who have looked into it) as the official stable API of the future.

- Current unofficial plugins 3rd party (e.g.: the libpurplre plugin for pidgin/adium/etc. by the excellent Eion Robb) are already using this web API to communicate with Skype (because the older SkypeAPI IPC API is getting deprecated).

- Microsoft HAS NOT shown any intention to sue such 3rd party effort, unlike other companies (WhatsApp, I'm looking at you !!!)

That means that things like my current stack (pidgin + skypeweb plugin + optionnally OTR plugin) is going to stay stable in the long term.

(Last but not least: pidgin+skypeweb plugin CAN keep your own personal copy of your chat logs, even if web.skype.com only features a limited back range)


Same thinking is also valid regarding Voice and Video calls : by adding the official HTML5 standard WebRTC next to their own Microsoft's Edge's ORTP (because, obviously, they need id to make it work in their chromium-based webapp renderer) means that this open web standard will also be their official standard for Linux in the future.

Means that opensource 3rd party plugins can start to work toward supporting it (and the good news is that most linux media frameworks like gstreamer and phonon also start to have WebRTC support, making it even more possible in the future).
Means also that ZRTP encryption could easily get used between compatible client featuring it (Jisti, I'm look at you, please start supporting web.skype.com / Pidgin, I'm looking at you, please start supporting ZRTP encryption for media calls).

Do they still spy on your computer with it?

Given the EULA of the old classic Skype (which promised that Microsoft will collaborate with law enforcement forces as required by local jurisdiction) and the log message of containement solutions like AppArmor (that tend to show that Skype is inappropriately touchy-feely with your files) :
I'm sure that this new Linux Alpha Client is as full of exploitable back-door and law-abiding wiretaps as its predecessor.

In fact that's what I suspect was the main motivation of making a desktopified webapp: they can introduce the necessary wiretaps points required by laws in the wrapper that calls the chromium web renderer.

Already noticed, that the new version does not support p2p group chats The one and only functionality i really ever use.

The tendency since the Microsoft buyout is to progressively remove any p2p functionality and transfer it to a more centralized infrastructure.
(see the disappearance of "super-nodes". now it's just Microsoft-owned servers doing the relay jobs)

So you can bet that there will be no "p2p group chats", but client-server "chatroom"-style group chats (as currently supported by SkypeWeb).



But again these two don't worry me in the long term:
- there will be open source 3rd party plugins supporting the skype web API.
- it will be harder to hide exploits and backdoor in open source apps.
- you'll be able to layer OTR and ZRTP above those and make end-to-end encryption despite all the shit that Microsoft might be legally required to do.