OT - Skype alternative?

On 28/07/2017 18:26:56, David B. wrote:
On 28-Jul-17 1:45 AM, Mayayana wrote:
I just went through a maddening session
of Microsoft sleaze for a friend. Skype said
her account "had problems". It turned out
they were trying to force her to set up an
outlook.com account without admitting that
was their plan. They pretended there was a
mixup and then pretended there was a security
issue. But once she set up outlook.com, presto,
the mixup and the need for a new password
magically disappeared. Skype came up, but not
before showing a window that said:

"There have been no recent purchases from
this account. Let's go shopping!"

Maybe people are used to this kind of thing. I
was amazed at the bald-faced sleaze of it all.
Anyway.... I don't use Skype or anything like
it. I wonder if there's some other alternative
that works well and isn't so slimy. What do people
like? What about if some friends are on Mac
or Linux? Do other programs work on those?
What is this class of program even called?

FYI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FaceTime

I just 'works'! :-)

Agreed it 'always' works, I am a windows user but have an iPad just for
using Facetime.
Can keep in touch with family around the world who mostly have iPhones.

--
mick

Wildman news:yv6dnWOfvZBpE-fEnZ2dnUU7-
Fri, 28 Jul 2017 01:10:12 GMT in
alt.windows7.general, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Jul 2017 20:45:26 -0400, Mayayana wrote:

I just went through a maddening session
of Microsoft sleaze for a friend. Skype said
her account "had problems". It turned out
they were trying to force her to set up an
outlook.com account without admitting that
was their plan. They pretended there was a
mixup and then pretended there was a security
issue. But once she set up outlook.com, presto,
the mixup and the need for a new password
magically disappeared. Skype came up, but not
before showing a window that said:

The price you pay to be an MS user.

"There have been no recent purchases from
this account. Let's go shopping!"

Maybe people are used to this kind of thing. I
was amazed at the bald-faced sleaze of it all.
Anyway.... I don't use Skype or anything like
it. I wonder if there's some other alternative
that works well and isn't so slimy. What do people
like? What about if some friends are on Mac
or Linux? Do other programs work on those?
What is this class of program even called?

I would suggest ICQ, but, like Skype it is only
free when used with other ICQ users.

On Linux I would use Pidgin. Don' know about Mac.

I've used Pidgin for years on Windows. [g] I found it to be very
handy to manage multiple chat networks without having to use a
dedicated app for each one. Although it's still installed on this
machine, I haven't actually started it up in several years now.




--
https://tekrider.net/pages/david-brooks-stalker.php

A cat is a friend who will never betray you.

"Paul" wrote

| In the article here, they advocate setting up an emulator
| and running FaceTime that way. This will use $500 of your
| time, instead of $500 of your money.
|
|
https://www.techntrack.org/download-...ws-7-8-and-10/
|

Sounds great. I know Windows is going downhill
when people start talking about ways to run VMs
to get Apple software, rather than the other way
around.

"mick" wrote

| With family members in Canada(x4), Australia(x8), Dubai(x1) and those
| near home(x3) all using ipads or iphones Facetime is a no brainer.
| Hardly a day goes by without someone(mostly grand children)who do not
| call. Not only that, I get to see their wider environment too.
| $500 is chicken feed to be able to have that live contact and all those
| memories.

I guess that's a good example of how Apple stays on
top. They can't do it with patent extortion, slave
labor and tax fraud alone. The real trick is engineering
extreme incompatibility. Get one sucker to buy a device
locked into the Apple Mall and their friends will fall
like dominoes.... no matter what the cost.... because
most people simply won't bother to figure out the best
way to do things. And if there's anything that Apple
does well it's "no brainers".

Personally I don't think of $500 as chicken feed for
anything.... Well, maybe for ambulance rides or Teslas.

WeChat.

The UI is a bit more complicated at first, but the capabilities are far,
far, far greater - including text messaging without burning up cell
phone minutes.

The downside is that, while a lot of people have Skype installed on
their devices, not so many have WeChat.
--
Pete Cresswell

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote

| WeChat.
|

People seem to be misunderstanding the question,
suggesting options for Mac or mobile. This is for a
Windows computer.

Per Mayayana:
People seem to be misunderstanding the question,
suggesting options for Mac or mobile. This is for a
Windows computer.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/stor...0/9nblggh4slx7

Kind of a funny distribution of ratings though: about evenly split
between one star and five stars.
--
Pete Cresswell

On 7/27/2017 8:45 PM, Mayayana wrote:
I just went through a maddening session
of Microsoft sleaze for a friend. Skype said
her account "had problems". It turned out
they were trying to force her to set up an
outlook.com account without admitting that
was their plan. They pretended there was a
mixup and then pretended there was a security
issue. But once she set up outlook.com, presto,
the mixup and the need for a new password
magically disappeared. Skype came up, but not
before showing a window that said:

"There have been no recent purchases from
this account. Let's go shopping!"

Maybe people are used to this kind of thing. I
was amazed at the bald-faced sleaze of it all.
Anyway.... I don't use Skype or anything like
it. I wonder if there's some other alternative
that works well and isn't so slimy. What do people
like? What about if some friends are on Mac
or Linux? Do other programs work on those?
What is this class of program even called?




Take a look at the free version of Brosix ("Brosix for Personal Use"),
might solve all your concerns.
https://www.brosix.com/

I've used it for 4 years with no issues.

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote

| https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/stor...0/9nblggh4slx7
|

I see. Apparently it's a Metro app. So it's really
a mobile app but can run on machines where
Metro is operational. I'm looking for real Windows
software.

"al" wrote

| Take a look at the free version of Brosix ("Brosix for Personal Use"),
| might solve all your concerns.
| https://www.brosix.com/
|

It says "start for free", implying there's a fee.
It also seems to be a "cloud" service, yet doesn't
support XP, which seems odd. I think I'm looking
for something very simple and not a subscription.
Though I actually don't know much about how
these things work. I imagined a program that could
just create a connection, without any intermediary.
Is some kind of intermediary required?

"al" wrote

| https://www.brosix.com/
|

I just tried downloading the portable version and it
seems to work OK on XP, though I can use Win7 if necessary.
How does this work? I just create an account, create a
"network", then get friends to also install and join my
network? They don't bother you with spam, etc.? It
appears they'll want a phone number. Hopefully that's
not really necessary? I don't really get the mechanics
of these things. ....Once it's set up I can just somehow
ping a friend and we can then connect for audio or
video calls?

Mayayana wrote:
"al" wrote

| Take a look at the free version of Brosix ("Brosix for Personal Use"),
| might solve all your concerns.
| https://www.brosix.com/
|

It says "start for free", implying there's a fee.
It also seems to be a "cloud" service, yet doesn't
support XP, which seems odd. I think I'm looking
for something very simple and not a subscription.
Though I actually don't know much about how
these things work. I imagined a program that could
just create a connection, without any intermediary.
Is some kind of intermediary required?



You can use "alternativeto" in a search, to find stuff.

http://alternativeto.net/software/sk...atform=windows

Now, I flipped quickly through there, looking for the
first "soup can with string" equivalent. This example is
an open source core for point-to-point communication.
It appears to use TOR DHT to convert a unique user
identifier, into a current IP address. Which unfortunately,
is a bit more than a "purely manual" chat channel.

https://github.com/irungentoo/toxcore

"distributed hash table" (DHT)

http://www.bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0005.html

There are a variety of clients that use that
protocol. And then you'd have to track them down
to test. The table has a few Windows entries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tox_%28protocol%29

Have fun,
Paul

On 7/29/2017 11:06 AM, Mayayana wrote:
"(PeteCresswell)" wrote

| WeChat.
|

People seem to be misunderstanding the question,
suggesting options for Mac or mobile. This is for a
Windows computer.


There is a "Desktop Messenger for WhatsApp" add-on for some browsers.

"Paul" wrote

| You can use "alternativeto" in a search, to find stuff.
|
| http://alternativeto.net/software/sk...atform=windows
|
That's an interesting site that I wasn't aware of. It
doesn't give much info, though. I'm more interested
in hearing peoples' experience, since I don't know
much about the field. But it seems that most people
here don't use "chat" programs.

I've been looking into brosix. It seems clean and simple.
But I can't find much info other than their website and
a few software download sites. A company wants
my email and phone number, and yet there's almost no
record off them online. I'm not used to dealing with
products that require me to give up privacy, and I'm
naturally suspicious of free things that say no strings
but then inexplicably need my personal information.

Skype is creepy that way. Maybe they all are. I guess
I was hoping there might be actual free, clean services
of some kind where two people just install a network
program and then call each other. But most of the
available products, like Skype, Viber, Google Hangouts,
etc, seem to be "consumer oriented", commercial products,
mainly for teens and college students. I'm curious about
Brosix because it lacks that theme. But I also wonder
about the overall business model. It seems like it must
be an expensive business to run, yet they all promise
free with no ads.


| Now, I flipped quickly through there, looking for the
| first "soup can with string" equivalent. This example is
| an open source core for point-to-point communication.
| It appears to use TOR DHT to convert a unique user
| identifier, into a current IP address. Which unfortunately,
| is a bit more than a "purely manual" chat channel.
|
| https://github.com/irungentoo/toxcore
|
I'm afraid you're wandering off the deep end
again, Paul. I don't want to compile some
funky beta product to talk about revolution with
russian dissidents. I'm just looking into video/audio
chat programs that are free, easy and non-intrusive.

Mayayana wrote:
"Paul" wrote

| You can use "alternativeto" in a search, to find stuff.
|
| http://alternativeto.net/software/sk...atform=windows
|
That's an interesting site that I wasn't aware of. It
doesn't give much info, though. I'm more interested
in hearing peoples' experience, since I don't know
much about the field. But it seems that most people
here don't use "chat" programs.

I've been looking into brosix. It seems clean and simple.
But I can't find much info other than their website and
a few software download sites. A company wants
my email and phone number, and yet there's almost no
record off them online. I'm not used to dealing with
products that require me to give up privacy, and I'm
naturally suspicious of free things that say no strings
but then inexplicably need my personal information.

Skype is creepy that way. Maybe they all are. I guess
I was hoping there might be actual free, clean services
of some kind where two people just install a network
program and then call each other. But most of the
available products, like Skype, Viber, Google Hangouts,
etc, seem to be "consumer oriented", commercial products,
mainly for teens and college students. I'm curious about
Brosix because it lacks that theme. But I also wonder
about the overall business model. It seems like it must
be an expensive business to run, yet they all promise
free with no ads.


| Now, I flipped quickly through there, looking for the
| first "soup can with string" equivalent. This example is
| an open source core for point-to-point communication.
| It appears to use TOR DHT to convert a unique user
| identifier, into a current IP address. Which unfortunately,
| is a bit more than a "purely manual" chat channel.
|
| https://github.com/irungentoo/toxcore
|
I'm afraid you're wandering off the deep end
again, Paul. I don't want to compile some
funky beta product to talk about revolution with
russian dissidents. I'm just looking into video/audio
chat programs that are free, easy and non-intrusive.

What I'm trying to find for you, is just a soup can with
string. No fancy Cloud features. No directory information!

The thing is, if you know the IP address of the other party
(say, the person sends it to you by email, five minutes
before your call), then it should be possible to do video
and audio transport, with no frills at all. Sending the IP
by email, handles the most common case of the ISP using
DHCP for address assignment to ISP customers.

I think you understand this.

While you may accuse me of "sending you off on an adventure",
it's just possible the client for the TOX protocol, has an
option for direct IP input. If so, then you get your
soup can with string.

The idea is, to find a client with the flexibility to
configure it for "soup can mode", were there is the
least possible interference from "stupid stuff".

You can still use public key/private key encryption,
as you're in charge of everything, and won't have to
share that stuff with anyone except the intended target.

So while the real tool would try to automate that stuff,
you should be able to do it manually too. And with less
privacy intrusion.

Paul