Re: Skype good alternative to SF afterits EOLive.

Skype is *not* open source software like SF - it's proprietary,
so there's no way to trust it for more than casual use.

You can download and run the binaries,
but you can't get the source, so you can't validate
whether it's secure in any meaningful way,
and they don't document the protocols,
either the key exchange protocols or codecs or anything,
so you not only can't build compatible applications,
you can't tell who it's talking to except by sniffing,
and you can't validate whether the connections you sniffed are
the only ones it makes or just the ones it's making now,
and you can't tell if it's passing keys to an eavesdropper,
and you can't tell if it's building connections to eavesdroppers,
and you can't tell anything about its scalability,
and you can't learn from any of the new ideas it might have.

Furthermore, while Kazaa might be honest *this* time,
(and all indications are that this is a cool project!)
they put spyware in the previous Kazaa versions,
so they've got a history of not being trustworthy.

                     Bill Stewart

E.R.Kooi wrote:

> Dear SF'rs, looking around for a good replacement of SF I found Skype.
> 
> It's new and became available end of august 2003 and is freeware like SF
> (and no adds, popups etc.).
> Right now it provides the basic facilities Voice and Chat on a P2P-basis. It
> is in practically all cases not hindered by firewalls, routers and NAT's.
> I tested it in various combinations of firewalls and routers on both sides
> and worked flawlessly.
> It's developed by the same makers as Kaaza.
> Have a look and try it. It's very simple to install.
> I have no connections with Skype. 
> The URL is: http://Skype.com
> 
> Met vriendelijke groet, Eppo R. Kooi.
> 
> 
> 
> 



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