Several hours ago with a warm fuzzy feeling I announced that we've finally released new Skype for Linux Beta.

We decided to call it "Betta than nufin". Don't think because we don't like it, we really do. But we're a sarcastic bunch and love a bit of the drama.

It's good new release bringing to wider audience some features that we have been using internally for quite a long time and got used to them, for you they will look like all new. Please, take a good look at them with your fresh eyes and tell us what you think.

We've opened several specific threads on the forum for you, if your feedback falls into one of these existing categories, please post it there. It will be easier for us to track new feedback when it's gathered together.

You can jump straight to these topics:

• General feedback
• Video feedback
• PulseAudio feedback
• ALSA feedback
• or post a new one here.

Enjoy the release!

It’s been a while since we last checked in to report on our progress with Skype for Linux, and I’m sorry to have kept you in the dark.

Here are some of the things we’ve been up to:

• We’ve completely rewritten the audio library, and have spent considerable effort transforming the existing audio code into a form more suitable for Skype. We’ve also fixed some compatibility issues with Bluetooth headsets.
• We’re also making substantial changes to the video library. We’re working to make it more stable and compatible with more webcams and X video modes.
• There is work underway to adopt some of the user interface improvements from Skype 4.0 for Windows, like the active conversations tab. We’re also considering adding the full-screen default view found in Skype 4.0 for Windows. Of course, this is still under development, but our goal is to create an easier to use interface that requires fewer clicks to accomplish the most common tasks.
• We’re also trying to be friendlier to more operating systems, in particular FreeBSD and OpenSolaris. While there is still no support for 64-bit Linux, we hope to add this during 2009.
• We’ve expanded our Linux team by hiring more skilled Linux/Qt developers, and we have more Linux vacancies to fill during the first few months of this year.

Just to reassure you – Skype for Linux is definitely not dead. Stay tuned for more developments :)

A great time is upon us. A time of change. A time of revolution.

In the past, we have struggled in a world of glass panes and fruits. Forbidden from seeing the world around us. Denied the possibility of showing who we are. But today, our eyes open. We are not afraid to see, and we are not afraid to show ourselves.

Indeed this is a time of excitement, but it’s also a time where we can share our happiness, our sadness, our anger and our love, for video has arrived to Skype for Linux.

This release is not just a revolution for us in Linux, but a revolution for the Skype world at large. No longer are we, the people of Linux - the workers of the world, prevented from socialising in the same way as our peers.

So join us in this revolution, join us by downloading Skype 2.0 Beta for Linux today.

Read on for less of my speech and more technical information about this release.

ps/ This post is courtesy of Andy, and today is 7th of November if you haven’t noticed yet.

pps/ Just a bit of known issues with video stuff:

• Using uvc webcam driver with new Logitech cameras can cause a split video effect which does not recover until you restart video. [this is fixed in internal versions]
• Using uvc webcam driver with ATi fglrx graphics card driver results in a memory leak and potential crash currently. [this is fixed in internal versions]
• gspca webcam driver can crash sometimes during webcam initialisation (which can also happen during the call).
• Using a display driver with only a single Xv port means you can only see video in one direction currently.
• Using a display driver with no Xv support will not work at all.
• ATi fglrx driver versions before 8.42.3 may crash your X server and lock up video during the call.
• ATi fglrx driver version 8.42.3 may crash your X server and lock up video at the beginning of the call.

Here I am sitting in super-nice small hotel in the center of Munich, taking a short rest after the DevDays before flying back to Tallinn.

It has been an insane two days, packed with meeting new people from all over the Earth and consuming knowledge Trolls have to offer. And they got quite a lot.

I've met in person a lot of Trolls and all I can say they are amazing people. It was extreme pleasure to see them on stage, talking with a real passion about the things they know and love - Qt, Qtopia and life in general.

There is tremendous amount of interest in Qt from a lot of developers from all areas - from microcomputers to space, from medicine to construction, from seismic research to business solutions. In my estimation there was about 500 people writing or maintaining Qt programs for a living. Somebody said there are not too many Qt applications out there. Well, they didn't bother to look. Maybe a TMR scanner in a medical facility nearby you runs Qt, how do you know?

Trolltech's commitment to developing Qt is so big, that I'm completely smashed and totally happy for choosing Qt for working on Skype for Linux. And more interesting things are only ahead.

I've also met my outstanding goal - to finally see some KDE developers I've known for long on the IRC but never managed to talk to in person. You guys are absolutely awesome.
While roaming around with a bottle of wine, I stumbled into Matthias Kretz sitting doing some Phonon debugging, so we sat together and shaped an API for VOIP and real-time audio applications in Phonon. With Torsten Rahn talked a bit about Marble and Google. This kind of meetings is really facilitating and I hope to have more chances to see them all more frequently in the near future.

My special "thank you" for inspiration to Aaron Seigo, the Man behind, above, below and in front of KDE. I even went to his talk two times in a row. Good job and have more working examples at hand!

Worked yesterday and today on extremely nasty deadlock on D-BUS.

Even though I don't like D-BUS (and this I am saying lightly), I spent whole night testing this issue and came up with a test program that reproduced the case sensibly. Then I turned to Trolltech for help and Thiago was extremely helpful in diagnosing the problem and providing hints on proper solution. Thank you very much Thiago!

Also Trolls were so nice to send me a fresh Russian translation of their "C++ programming with Qt4" book by Jasmin Blanchette and Mark Summerfield. Thank you guys, I'll sure enjoy (proof)reading it :)

Today I sweeped the last pack of bugs on our way towards the golden 1.4 client. This includes several crashes when using public API and some audio fixes.

Tomorrow I expect to go through a list of not-so-critical-but-nevertheless-nice-to-have-fixed bugs and fix some just for fun.

It will take some time for testing and maybe a couple iterations of "fixing the fixes" before we put this 1.4 out, but gosh it's close!

This week I did for Skype: nearly nothing. My coughing is still bad but I might be getting better (just to get worse again).

We started a fancy side project to radically improve Skype UI. Can't tell you how much better it will become (I just don't know yet!).

After Trolls left, I've been mostly sleeping, but it seems that I'm going to Trolltech devdays - if you want to come and smash a huge white creamy cake into my face or just talk about some Qt and Skype stuff - I'll be waiting for you in Munich this October ;)

And, erm, The Gold Release - it's some day Real Soon Now(tm).

Last two days've been full of hacking and testing.

Two folks from Trolltech came to our office to give us some assistance with Skype and Qt4. We spent wonderful two days hacking and actually managed to achieve our goals!

Soon I'll dive into finishing and polishing what we did. Hopefully, it will not take too long time for you to see it.

I hope to see more trolls during the DevDays in Munich this October.