Installing Skype
 

I am running current and have the SBo skype package installed. I have the most recent SBo version installed which is a 4.3 generation which will no longer work as of July 1.

There is a .deb and .rpm package available on the skype download site. I know that slackware has tools for working with RPM packages. My question is, has anyone tried installing the .rpm package on slackware-current and if so were there any issues? Also, did you just use the rpm program or did you use rpm2txz?

Thanks.

maybe see this busy thread will help?

There will be a new skypeforlinux script which will work after July 1. It will be merged in the next public update this weekend

The next public update, sometime tomorrow or the day after, will bring you a new 'skypeforlinux' SlackBuild for Skype version 5.3.0.1. The 'skype' SlackBuild will be withdrawn sometime after 1 July, if Microsoft really does kill version 4.3 as they have indicated.

The changes are already available in git if you don't want to wait for the update.
https://git.slackbuilds.org/slackbui.../?id=766378bbd
https://git.slackbuilds.org/slackbui.../?id=54e6f60e6

Thanks to Mario Preksavec who organised it all earlier this week.

edit: I'm just too slow today :)

That is tremendous. Thanks both for the information.

Well I'll be damned!!!!! No 32bit support? I guess I gotta upgrade to 64bit if I wanna use the new skype.

So one less reason for using multi-lib?

it's now available in SBo

I Installed it and it seems to work. Thanks.

Certainly appears so!

The skypeforlinux Slackbuild works well. :)

Thanks to all involved for their efforts to get this working! Skype was the only thing left for which I had to use windoze!

However, I have a couple of questions. On the old Linux client and the widows one, there was a facility for adjusting the audio levels on the mic. This seems to have disappeared. Is this now configured by pulseaudio, or is there still a hidden gain control somewhere in skype? Also, there used to be a settings menu where you could check the webcam function. This also seems to have disappeared, and the bill-on-skype test facility no longer seems to work. How do you test the webcam function?

Cheers,

--
Pete

This is controlled by pulseaudio. You should be able to adjust it in the "Capture Devices" section of your mixer.
Make a video call... Even if you try with someone who is offline, you should be able to see if it works for a few sec.

Thanks for that! I don't use skype much - just to keep in touch with my son and his family once a week (they live a fair distance away!). I've been forced to use windoze until now, but every time I use it, it either spends ages updating windoze or skype before allowing me to actually *use* it, which is very annoying when someone is waiting for a pre-arranged call!

It would be *really* handy to be able to check the camera - for lighting, if nothing else - as there is a window behind where we usually sit to call. If we don't draw the curtains, we just appear as silhouettes! It usually takes me 5 mins of faffing about to get a decent image, but it appears this facility no longer exists!

Well done Micro$oft!

--
Pete

Just a quick follow-up. I actually did a call on this new version and sound and video both worked great. One thing I noticed is it seems the ability to share your screen has disappeared from this version. At least I couldn't find how to do it.

Hmm! I tried to use it in anger for the first time today, and had to abandon the video call. I was using my small, and admittedly under-powered, laptop, with my TV connected via HDMI. Now this combination has no problem displaying full HD video on the TV, with only about a 20% cpu load, so the low quality video of skype should have been a walk in the park. However, the video refresh rate was only about 1 or 2 Hz, with a black bar scrolling through. Our image at the other end was the same. Rebooted the laptop into windoze, and it worked fine - well, at least as well as it usually does.

I really thought I was going to be able to purge windoze off the machine, as skype is the only thing it gets used for. I'm rather disappointed, but not surprised.....

--
Pete