3/17/2013

Alternatives to Skype for Linux

This document describes several alternative applications to Skype for Linux:
  • Brosix Personal
  • Ekiga
  • Google Hangouts
  • Linphone
Each application above implements its own technology to enable unlimited, free communication with your friends and family, provided they share your network. Additionally, Ekiga and Linphone enable setting up paid accounts for non-network calls.
Brosix Personal
Brosix Personal, for individuals, is a client application that enables free communication with anyone on the Brosix secure, public, worldwide network. Brosix Enterprise, for businesses and organizations, enables setting up and managing a private network for a business or organization. To install Brosix on your particular distribution of the Linux operating system, go the Brosix Linux Download web page. Your PC must have an Intel processor. You can download an Ubuntu package, a Fedora package, or a Linux portable archive (for other Linux distributions).
Ekiga
Ekiga is a client application that enables free communication with other Ekiga users. To make calls outside of the Ekiga network, you need to set up a Diamondcard Voice Over Internet Protocol account. To install Ekiga on your Linux distribution, go to the Installing Ekiga on Linux web page. Alternatively, you might be able to install Ekiga directly through the software repository for your Linux Distribution. For example, if you are running Ubuntu Linux on your PC, you can install Ekiga directly through the Ubuntu Software Center.
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is a free, Internet application that enables communication among friends and/or family members. If you have any Google account, such as Gmail, you can set up Google+, set up Friends and Family Google Circles, and then download a Google Hangouts plugin (See Getting started with Google+ Hangouts). You can set up a video conference with as many as nine people.
Linphone
Linphone is a free client application that enables Internet communication with anyone through any Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) paid subscription VOIP service. If you choose the Linphone Free SIP service, you can make free calls to anyone on the Linphone network. You can download the Linphone for Linux source files as a TAR.GZ archive file. Alternatively, depending on your Linux distribution, you might be able install Linphone directly through its software repository, such as the Ubuntu Software Center.

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