Skype:
Closed source
No Video on Linux
Closed protocol
Bugs take for ever to be fixed

Wengophone:
Open source
Video support
open sip protocol
alsa or oss
http://www.openwengo.org/

but wengo has no support for conference calls, no tunneling mechanisms, its chat is bad (they should use jabber for it), no file sending, and doesnt work with dmix (correction: it seems to work with some configs!)

however all this issues are in development.

The current version does have http tunneling if you have Wengophone installed go to configuration > advanced and enable Wengophone through HTTP on ports 80 and 443. I haven't tried text chat or file transfer in Wengophone so I can't comment come to think of it I've never used those features in Skype either. Regarding Conference calls you are correct that the current Wengophone does not allow conference calls, but this is planned for the next version know as Wengophone TNG and currently in CVS. I mainly use skype for my international pc to phone calls I tried wengophone and I found the audio quality slightly better than Skype. Check it out yourself it comes with 1 euro of free credit when you register. Remember this program is open source and in early stages so sooner or latter someone will implement or improve the missing features.

e.g. the dualphone?
That's the "wife test" as far as I am concerned!

Try to use Ekiga too (http://www.ekiga.org)!

for me, I still keep Skype since neither OpenWengo 0.950 or Gizmo Project 1.0.0.17 have ALSA support or true ALSA support.

Plus, Gizmo's voice thingy is really poor. OpenWengo doesn't even work for me.

gnutux

[quote=xboxrulz]for me, I still keep Skype since neither OpenWengo 0.950 or Gizmo Project 1.0.0.17 have ALSA support or true ALSA support.

Plus, Gizmo's voice thingy is really poor. OpenWengo doesn't even work for me.

gnutux[/quote]

Try v0.958m or the cvs version of WengoPhone classic - the cvs works with ALSA for me...I haven't tried the 0.958 rpm, but I think it does too.

Interesting and positive piece of news on Newsforge today about OpenWengo as a Firefox extension.

http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?s...166235&from=rss

You want to compare Wengo with Skype ? That's easy, follow these steps:

1. Go to http://www.skype.com
2. Look at the logo at the top of the page, you can read "The whole world can talk for free"
3. Realize this: For Skype it's false, but for Wengo, it's true

I've given up on Skype because of the ALSA problem. I've now downloaded Wengo and it works perfectly on my stock Kubuntu box.

I didn't know that much about SIP before I moved to Wengo, but if GoogleTalk is supporting it, (which they say they will), as does MSN Messenger, Yahoo, iChat, etc. etc. won't Skype end up being the odd one out?

I didn't know that MSN Messenger supports SIP. But I suppose you can't talk to any MSN user simply with a SIP client, so it's not really useful. The main protocol of all instant messengers should be something open like SIP, so everyone can talk to everyone, with any computer.

Everybody on earth having an internet connection can use the Web, the news, email, FTP, IRC, etc. Having an internet connection should be the only requirement.

But people who created email or FTP or such open protocols never became rich. People who create proprietary protocols become rich sometimes. Skype was sold a huge amount of dollars recently. People who created openwengo won't become rich. In my opinion, that's the only true reason why the world can not talk for free with Skype. Knowing that, it's up to you to decide which system you should use.

skype - only with XP
openwengo - H 263 or mpeg4 (me like this) linux and windows
ekiga - H 261 - not as good as 263. has an unstable windows version

bluetooth headset usage:
skype - must be reset after each call, gold in windows
openwengo - gold in linux , doesnt work for me in windows
ekiga - linux is sweet , windows - to be tested

cost is simalier AFAIAK

I am voting for openwengo now - but ekiga should be wining it soon.
the three are alpha testing newer versions - that may change the marks in two mounths time.

Yes, but we should distinguish between a protocol and an application using that protocol.

One can visit the Skype web site using the HTTP protocol. If I have a computer operating system for which there is NO web browser, I still have a chance to read the HTTP protocol specs available everywhere for free and create my own web browser. Making such a program is a difficult task of course, but for every operating system, there will always be people wanting to do it and share their work. For Skype, it's clear that there are many people who would like to do that.

There are many different operating systems, far more than just Windows, MacOS and linux (and linux itself can run on many different architectures, so Skype doesn't run on linux, but on some linux). I don't know a single OS that can handle TCP/IP and that does not have at least one web browser for it. Fortunately, the HTTP protocol has not been created by Skype, otherwise we would be obliged to use Windows or MacOS to surf the web, with a choice of only one application. I guess the catchphrase would be "The whole world can surf the web for free".

I've already said that the Skype slogan "The whole world can talk for free" was false. But there's another wrong thing we can read on their web site: "And it doesn’t just work on Windows, like some other software you may know.". Well it's not really wrong, it is pretty true, but it hides the fact that it could have worked on every OS, if they decided to make something with an open protocol like HTTP, FTP, IRC, SMTP, etc.

It's obvious that people at Skype know this. They just wanted to make money, and they did it, with great success. I'd have done the same :roll: . On the contrary, 99,9% of Skype users don't know this, because they barely know what a protocol is. One can really make money with ignorance.

I hate to disagree with you , as I am also an open standard advicte BUT:
1. This issue over choode, they wont open it.
2. they do give SIP a run for their moeny , and showed the whole world that voip using pcs and pda - does have a market. now they are prooving it with video..

I agree with both point 1 and point 2.

1. They won't open it, because making it free would allow us to be more free. Free to chose a Skype client for example. Free to chose an operating system. So Skype would have less control on their user base.
2. They showed the world that VoIP have a market, that's true. But I prefer saying "users", not "market".

"Market" is when you want to make money. "Users" is when you want to make a good software. The web has users, that's why the web is made to be useable. Amazon.com has a market, that's why it's made to make you buy. I'm sure you get the point.

Does it work well with HTTP proxy? They have a dedicated server for this or it works like P2P like skype? My experience is that most voip programs must have a direct conection.

thanks

Has anyone tried Gizmo Project on Linux? It seems it already uses ALSA.

yeh me, has weird dependencies, dont like it.

wengo looks more promising.

Gizmo seems to run OK under Xandros. Looks quite good to me.

The sound seems to be very good.

Wengo also runs well - including my Logitech 3000 Webcam.

Gizmo worked better than Wengo for me at least.

xboxrulz

[quote=xboxrulz]Gizmo worked better than Wengo for me at least.

xboxrulz[/quote]

Yeah but it seems to be no video in Gizmo
I'll try Wengo to see how well it works. I'm especially sensitive for the http proxy which works greatly in skype.

The funny think I found on the gizmo site is: "My new prediction is that within 18 months people will forget about Skype and will be using something open like Gizmo." Yeah

you cant say much about wengo now, because its still in development.

the "classic" version for linux is actually just a port from windows and you should wait for the NG release.

yeah, but even the classic version is really awesome for now!

I'm really looking forward to the NG one. this is going to be awesome!

[quote=Trizou]it hides the fact that it could have worked on every OS, if they decided to make something with an open protocol like HTTP, FTP, IRC, SMTP, etc.

It's obvious that people at Skype know this. They just wanted to make money, and they did it, with great success. I'd have done the same :roll: . On the contrary, 99,9% of Skype users don't know this, because they barely know what a protocol is. One can really make money with ignorance.[/quote]

You know, I don't understand why skype doesn't publish the protocol. It's not as if they make money out of it! Skype makes money from SkypeOut and SkypeIn. They could still do that if they published the protocol and allowed other software to make skype calls. People using this other software would still be attracted to SkypeOut and SkypeIn and may become revenue streams.

But Skype will never be able to charge for internet-to-internet calls, so they may as well let the whole world interface with their system.

One of my prime criteria is security. The voip AP should be well encrypted by default with standard strong encryption and authentication algorithms. I find very few of the so called "skypekillers" have this. IMHO this is what set skype apart from the pack, at least initially. Their inclusion of default strong encryption has changed the voip marketplace to where if a new voip ap doesn't have that on their checklist they aren't going to go far.

my $0.02
rearden

are you kiddin? not many of the skype users will even care or know a s*#t bout crypt.
and you don't really tell you are trusting in and willingly have chosen a closed source software for security reasons, for which experts can't even guarantee the absence of a backdoor, do you?
:?:
in fact, no other voip-client will be tapped so easily remote from anywhere and totally unrecognized like a "correctly designed" skype. it even could microphone your room and you got little chance to discover ever.
j

Wengophone seems to have matured. Placing a video call is just as easy as with Skype. I have tested it under Windows XP with my Logitech webcam without any problems (and will test it under Linux when I get the chance). I found that it uses about 1/3 or less the CPU resources Skype (3.5.0.214) does, however call quality (on "Excellent" setting) is slightly less than with Skype - but this good be due to it's inability to penetrate my firewall/NAT router.

List of Wengophone support for important features (to me) that Skype already has:

• Encryption: yes (AES-128)
• Video Call: yes (also under Linux and Mac)
• Video Call Quality: Good, but no HQ (afaik, yet)
• Auto Call Accept: no (afaik)

PS: Why 3.5.0.214? Well easy, just search for "Pagefaults" on the forums.

Is there a point in posting about Wengophone on the Skype forums? You seem to have dug up an old post from a year and half ago, to provide some debate about Wengo vs Skype in a Linux forum, whilst admit to only having tried the Windows version.

I don't see any value in this post other than to promote division amongst the Skype community. If this were a VoIP-neutral forum, then fine and well. But this is the Skype forum.

Andrew.