what to use instead of skype?

[Evan Leibovitch]

> Simon <simon80-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> writes:
>> one of these scripts.  Everything else is in the official multiverse
>> repositories, except for Skype, which I don't think is needed.  Back
>
> It is needed if employers and clients insist on using it ;)

True, but little of this technology is old enough to have established a
huge amount of negative inertia. If there are better alternatives, the
user base is not yet that entrenched to make moving impossible.

(As the user base for these services is -- almost by definition --
bleeding edge early adopters, they can be more easily turned to something
better. Having said that, it's yet to be established that the alternatives
are superior beyond being more free. There are some wierd things about the
Gizmo Project, for instance, that make it a less attractive alternative
than it might otherwise be.)

>> I frown on using scripts to automate installation of extra packages -

I agree. It seems that all that easyubuntu does is temporarily add entries
to your sources.list file, runs apt-get, and then reverts to your original
file, all with a pretty new interface.

As it's simply a second interface to augment synaptic or adept, I find
that easyubuntu adds complexity rather than simplicity. Furthermore,
updates of Easyubuntu-sourced packages require a two-step process; you
need to upgrade easyubuntu *then* re-run it to upgrade its packages. I
also notice that if you're using Kubuntu, installing easyubuntu forced the
auxilliary install of a bunch of GNOME cruft

My preference is just to add appropriate entries to my sources.list file;
I find

http://www.ubuntu-nl.org/source-o-matic/

extremely useful in this regard. Just do it once after system
installation, then the "litigious" stuff installs (and updates) in the
same manner as everything else.

And, BTW, there are quite a few available "litigious" packages provided by
groups such as the PLF. Here's a listing of what the PLF makes available
for  Mandriva:
http://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/linux/plf/mandriva/non-free/10.2/i586/
Some of its entries are otherwise-free packages (such as xmms) that have
extra support for non-free components added.

- Evan


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