Microsoft will acquire Skype

leon.anavi

Hi,

It is now officially announced that "Microsoft will acquire Skype":http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/10/microsofts-acquisition-of-skype-for-8-5-billion-becomes-offici/ What to you think about acquisition? What will be the future of Skype for Linux (I know it is written using Qt)?

Best regards,
Leon

Franzk

It's hard to say what is going to happen. I expect they're going to market it a bit more, but it would be stupid of them to rewrite the software and limit the platforms of use.

frankcyblogic.de

Their primary business is selling licenses for Office and Windows. So, limiting skype to Windows makes absolutely sense for Microsoft.

goetz

[quote author="unclewerner" date="1305101153"]Their primary business is selling licenses for Office and Windows. So, limiting skype to Windows makes absolutely sense for Microsoft.[/quote]

That would cut one of the most important reasons, why Skype is so successful: It's the only software/network for audio/video chat that is truly cross platform. There is no easy to setup alternative that works on Windows, Mac OS X AND Linux.

andre

I truly don't believe that Linux is an important platform for Skype. Mac, perhaps, but Microsoft is also active there already.

koahnig

Skype on Linux is certainly not Microsoft's focus. Probably they are not killing Skype on Linux actively, but it may suffer significantly.
Skype came to a status to be widely used. It is no longer a freak technology. It is easy to handle also by non-technical people. It is amazing how often you hear that this is the way for a lot of people to see their grandkids over Internet.

Franzk

[quote author="koahnig" date="1305104618"]Skype on Linux is certainly not Microsoft's focus. Probably they are not killing Skype on Linux actively, but it may suffer significantly. [/quote]
According to "one article":http://mashable.com/2011/05/10/msft-skype-op-ed/ microsoft is going to use Skype to get a foot hold in the mobile market by having the thing be cross platform. I wouldn't expect them to actively support Linux either, but I think the Linux user base is larger than one would think.

[quote author="koahnig" date="1305104618"]It is amazing how often you hear that this is the way for a lot of people to see their grandkids over Internet. [/quote]It works for my son's grandparents as well :P.

koahnig

Did not Skype get the wrong start in the mobile market, because people had suddenly to pay?
I had seen an article about this, but I do not know where.

CMGeorge

The acquisition i believe is a good news for Nokia with WMP7. I fit will be well integrated, the sell potential of WMP7 will increase very much.

ucomesdag

Skype is written with Qt does this mean they will rewrite it for WMP7 or will they make Qt work on WMP7? So this might be good news, I hope...

CMGeorge

Skype is using Qt only on linux: http://qt.nokia.com/qt-in-use/story/app/skype

Btw, on the qt-in-use page for skype, in the bottom it says: Skype™ is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY)."
Someone to change EBay to M$ :P

ucomesdag

[quote author="CMGeorge" date="1305124912"]Skype is using Qt only on linux: http://qt.nokia.com/qt-in-use/story/app/skype[/quote]
Wasn't aware of that, thats a pitty. :(

leon.anavi

[quote author="Volker" date="1305102706"]That would cut one of the most important reasons, why Skype is so successful: It's the only software/network for audio/video chat that is truly cross platform. There is no easy to setup alternative that works on Windows, Mac OS X AND Linux.[/quote]

[quote author="Andre" date="1305102798"]I truly don't believe that Linux is an important platform for Skype. Mac, perhaps, but Microsoft is also active there already. [/quote]

I share the same opinion, Andre.

Volker you are absolutely right it is no easy to setup alternative but even now there are similar applications for communication that are not that popular. It is a free market and if Microsoft decide to limit Skype I believe that sooner or later another application will evolve :)

After all this acquisition might be positive for Qt regarding the multi-platform nature of Skype and the partnership between Nokia and Microsoft, right?

goetz

I agree that there is a market. But I stay with my statement that there is no usable alternative that works on all three platforms. I'm sorry to say so, but open source community fails miserably in this "market" with Pidgin (and other libpurple based clients like Adium on the Mac) being just one of them. (and to ask the obvious comment: no, I do not want to jump in :) )

It must be something, that a non-techie can install without effort and hassles (think of aforementioned granny who wants to talk to her grandchildren). And no, a SIP soft phone does not count here.

Franzk

[quote author="Volker" date="1305147549"]I'm sorry to say so, but open source community fails miserably in this "market" with Pidgin (and other libpurple based clients like Adium on the Mac) being just one of them. [/quote]
No need to be sorry. It's just the plain truth that there is no generally usable FOSS solution for this type of communication. One could say the community sucks at it, one could also conclude that the community doesn't care enough because there is a half decent free program available (i.e. Skype). We'll see what happens when, if it will happen at all, Skype is no longer a viable alternative on Linux.

Obviously a skype like program should have the use-case of the grandparents/grandkids as a starting point. Ease of use is what is important.