How the FUCK do I free myself from this absolute piece of shit? This is the one fucking remnant of bloated NSA-botnet garbage I can't seem to get rid of. I hate it so much, its ubiquity is such a curse. Every time I try to suggest switching to some other VoIP/IM client to my m8s, I always get "Skype is a piece of shit, but everyone else I know uses it so it's not worth it to switch/have 2 separate clients", or "Well since X isn't switching, I won't bother either". It's just an endless chain of "everyone else uses it, so I'm stuck with it" with normies that don't know any better at the heart of it. Do I just have to go the true /g/entooman neckbeard way and forgo having friends? How did you escape this botnet, /g/?
>>54208745
Get qTox
discord?
>>54208745
My retarded millennial friends are the same.
"But Skype is so convenient!!111"
Nothing else works as good as skype and has all the features.
All other programs either have outdated ui or terrible voice quality.
Just install Tox: https://tox.chat
I thought normalfags only used the Facebook chat and WhatsApp to communicate nowadays
>>54208854
>skype
>convenient
lol
>>54208768
>>54208869
I would absolutely love to, or just about any other client, for that matter. The problem is the massive network of retards that use Skype that make it virtually impossible to break away from.
>>54208811
I would prefer FOSS with an emphasis on privacy, but I did eventually break down and try even that. No dice. Again, it's just impossible to get people to make the switch.
>>54208904
Sadly that's true.
>>54208904
Yeah that's the biggest problem. The fucking network effect.
>>54208904
>I would love to use Facebook but everyone is on MySpace!
>>54208881
Skype is still super popular among businesses that use it for their gay video conference power-hours and shit.
tox guys should work on some Skype proxy/implementation. Tox clients should literally support skype.
I'm guessing that's really hard.
Hilariously every "free alternative" always dies when it may work fine but nobody wants to switch and they end up not being able to talk to anyone.
I remember pidgin had a skype plugin but it was years ago I used that, it was iffy and would drop every hour or so, and no idea if it is better or worse now.
>Do I just have to go the true /g/entooman neckbeard way and forgo having friends?
Typical freetard "solution" wherein you can't find a way to make it work so you just call it "bad" and then don't have software or friends. Obviously this is not the way to go.
>>54208973
>I'm guessing that's really hard
It's impossible. And illegal. Skype made sure
>>54208973
It could but there's still a centralized connection.
>>54208978
>Obviously this is not the way to go.
If you decide a priori that you must use botnet then you are deciding to lose.
>>54208745
The simple answer would be switch to Mumble, Tox or Jitsi, but sadly it's a lot more complicated than that. Switching to a better alternative doesn't mean shit if nobody is switching with you. Using all these FOSS programs is useless if you don't have anyone to talk to.
So until normal people start to care about botnet and their privacy, you can either embrace the botnet as well (a.k.a. keep using Skype), give up online communication with your friends or try to convince them that Skype is spyware (I bet they won't care).
>>54208978
>Typical freetard "solution" wherein you can't find a way to make it work so you just call it "bad" and then don't have software or friends. Obviously this is not the way to go.
I clearly wasn't actually being serious when I said that.
>>54208745
Maybe you should stop using child porn and being a terrorist OP. Then you could use Skype without fear.
Okay, first thing is to figure out exactly what features you and your friends use on Skype. That will depend how to progress and what other software to suggest.
Admittedly its going to be hard to deal with people who won't even install another application, but it seems some of your friends know Skype is shit so that is a starting point. Start with them. Convince them of reasons to leave. Does anyone use anything besides Skype? Even normie shit like Facebook or SMS?
>>54209043
And yet
>>54209008
he is
I recently completely switched to Facebook for voice and video calls via computer. I know it's just as bad as Skype morally... But at least I use one less botnet now and Facebook is designed much better.
>>54209138
Also I didn't mean to sage lol
>>54209042
Even though the botnet/privacy element of it is one of my main irks, I wouldn't even mind Skype so much if it weren't for the fact that it's such a resource hog ad-ridden bloated piece of shit with poor audio quality. I don't even use most of Skype's functionality, I'd personally be content with a simple, lightweight group IM/VoiP client.
>>54209071
>le nothing to hide :^)
>>54208745
>tfw gf and me use Skype because it's stable, but whenever it gets lewd we switch to facetime because muh encryption
>>54209123
It's really not any of Skype's functionality that keeps any of them using it (we generally just use individual/group IM/VoiP, although at least one apparently has to use Skype for business and does videocalls with his GF), it's just the network effect as I pointed out in the OP. X doesn't want to switch because Y uses Skype, Y either is content with Skype, doesn't know any better, or won't switch because Z won't switch, and so on and so forth. None of my friends actually genuinely like Skype, they'd all be willing to switch if it weren't for other friends/family/what have you.
>>54209259
Okay, I was asking before suggesting a particular app or apps to use. For the people issue, I suggest finding a central target or two. The ones who, if they tried or switched, would enable the most others to switch . Work on them. What you do depends on how receptive they are. One gets pissed at Skype for a reason like crashing or clarity, suggest to try something else 'just for now'. Someone else cares about privacy, message every report about Skype, Microsoft, NSA , and related botnet stuff. A part of this is social engineering.
>>54209259
>it's just the network effect
There's a better word for it: Spontaneous symmetry breaking.
>tfw your friends all use skype
>tfw your erp partners all use skype
>>54209369
It probably doesn't help that we've had VERY brief flirts with one or two other clients in the past, and they're such finicky bastards that they've dropped it just about right away because it didn't work exactly or as nicely as expected out of the box, or the interface was too dissimilar to Skype, or whatever. So, they're already a bit wary of my suggestions to switch to something different (this was all pretty far back in the past, though. In retrospect, I should have been a bit more thoughtful of my alternative suggestions). Thus, it needs to be something that ideally justwerks, and has at least a somewhat relatively familiar, user-friendly interface. I guess a bonafide Skype replacement rather than something like TS3 or Mumble. I'm looking at qTox right now as per someone's suggestion earlier, it looks quite promising.
>>54209383
Interesting.
>look it up
pic related
>>54208904
Don't do VoIP with them then? The best replacement is mumble, TS3 is proprietary trash, and mumble is also slightly easier to use for the user. But yeah, until mumble magically has a web interface like discord good luck with the lazy ones.
>>54209369
From the technical side in selecting an app, it seems you need IM and VoIP the most. I would suggest Jitsi on PCs (Mac and Linux too) as it does everything. XMPP would be a great protocol especially since it is federated so someone else can be using Facebook chat even and you can connect through duckduckgo server . Voice is easy over xmpp or sip, both encrypted zrtp. Ostel gives out free sip accounts and is run by the guardian project. Video works too and Jitsi actually has their own web or client based server too. Note that video and voice calls can also be supplemented by using Firefox Hello or other webrtc though I think Hello is probably one of the most private. There is also the Ring foss messenger that does all you need as well. Tox is another option but I think k it's still a bit patchwork and lacks cross compatibility. Keep in mind your friend s could use Android based clients for protocols we talked of as well, probably iOS too.
Is tox even secure yet?
>>54209230
Having mah cawk out on video is one of the few times i try and be as insecure as possible
>>54208904
>I would prefer FOSS with an emphasis on privacy, but I did eventually break down and try even that. No dice. Again, it's just impossible to get people to make the switch.
it's not impossible, your friends just don't like you enough.
I switched to discord about a month ago, everyone else followed suit pretty quickly. We use skype when discord's servers have a hiccup and we're in the middle of something but otherwise we don't use skype barely ever.
>>54209527
Thank you very much for your suggestions, I'm going to research them all thoroughly.
>>54209549
Well, it's open source, decentralized, encrypted, and it originated from /g/ to evade government surveillance, so I guess it's safe.
>>54209589
>your friends just don't like you enough.
>>54209510
Okay. Check Jitsi and see what you think like I said in my post below. If it's too much config, than try Ring. It can be found at ring.CX and is almost exact skypelike ui . Likewise use webrtc FirefoxHello for video and voice, a d use something else for e text. Finally, if mumble isnt going to work because it's too much setup, I epd try Discord. No, it's not Foss but they are not selling your info and it's easy as fuck to use, lots of other features coming soon Nd they just offered a beta Linux client.
>>54209607
Alas it is easy to detect your real IP from any user, so... I don't think it's there yet. Not that it doesn't have potential but it needs some significant work because right now it isn't suitable for either ultra paranoid security types or easy to use normies.
>>54209668
Yup, it's definitely not finished
>>54209589
Discord is easy to join too, even if they don't want to install it, as they can use their browser.
>>54208745
Since you're still using Skype, the only thing that's on your level of technological stupidity is Discord.
>>54208859
skypes voice quality is fucking garbage
>>54208768
/thread
Can anyone explain to a newly washed what the deal is with the current Tox controversy? Mainly that litigation post on the Tox im blog at the end of March.
>>54209860
april fools!!!11!
>>54208811
discord has a disgusting private policy. they say they will sell your conversations and anything uploaded to third parties. btw the government counts as a third party.
Retroshare
Tox
Mumble
Pick one based on your needs
>>54208859
>Nothing else works as good as skype and has all the features.
>All other programs either have outdated ui or terrible voice quality.
Google Hangouts is better than Skype in literally every way
>>54208745
I'll use fucking anything.
Jabber, IRC, Telegram... just make your friends NOT use Skype.
>>54210308
>By uploading, distributing, transmitting or otherwise using Your Data with the Services, you grant to us a nonexclusive, transferable, royalty-free, sublicensable, and worldwide license to use Your Data, subject to the Company’s Privacy Policy.
Discord
>>54209715
>>54210450
>just switched to discord yesterday after years of having to deal with skype's bullshit
>love everything about it
>go to /g/ to see what they think about it
>see this thread
I knew it was too good to be true
>>54208768
not OP but if only Tox had a working android support...
>>54211549
Well, I hate to say it, but all things considered, if anything is poised to become an alternative to Skype, it's Discord. It just seems to be gaining more popularity than most of the other Skype alternatives that have cropped up over the years. At a minimum, it's, in most regards, better software than Skype as a whole, but not much better with regards to your privacy.
>>54211646
it does. Get antox from f-droid.
It has full text and a/v support
never looked back after I switched to FaceTime. It kept freezing on me but not FT.
The only downside for FT is I can't pin it on top of the other windows and there is no conference option.
>>54210982
>free myself from bloated NSA-botnet by going to another NSA-botnet service, now with memes
>>54208745
I successfully moved back to using XMPP with pidgin, but I lost a few friends in the transition. Generally anon, if they're actually friends with you and want to talk to you, they can spare 14mb ram to talk to you. Pidgin helped me spin it to people with 'custom emoticon support! just like that msn you always used to love!' though.
>>54211844
Whats wrong with it in terms of privacy?
I think it's fucking fantastic. It's like mumble fucked skype, and actually came to the fucking 21st century.
Install discord
>>54209527
Jitsi is cool, but nobody use it. It's not fancy enough and it's not becoming popular. If I switch to it I will lose the few people I'm talking to.
If i switch to Telegram or Discord I will probably convince someone to switch with me, but sadly it's like trading a botnet for another one. So fuck it, I'm stuck with Skype.
what do you guys think about google hangouts??
>>54213275
i need an alternative that has share screen support in linux... anyone know one??
>>54213242
Discord is worth switching. It's better than Skype which is owned by Microsoft, and in terms of usability and features, it's significantly better than Skype. Low overhead, has servers (with end to end encryption which is nice), and it's sound quality is far better, not to mention the other nice little features.
To be honest, I've been loving it since I tried it. I've basically hated Skype since MS took it over, and this is an amazing replacement.
>inb4 shill
>>54213928
>with end to end encryption which is nice
doesn't matter when they sell everything that touches their servers
Thanks for mentioning Tox. I love open-source alternatives that can take on the corporate crap out there.
I'll be using it as well as Skype for now.
>>54209527
I'm curious about ring
Have you used it?
