An Open Source Skype Alternative

There's no denying that Skype is far and away the most ubiquitous VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service today, nevertheless a new project launched this week aims to create an open source alternative.

GNU Free Call, which was announced on Monday by the GNU Project, will offer a service that's both secure and usable on all platforms, much the way closed-source Skype is, its developers say. The key difference, now, will be that it's available "without requiring a central service provider to register with, without using insecure source secret binary protocols that may have back-doors, and without having network control points of any kind that can be exploited or abused by external parties," its creators say.

Rather, GNU Free Call will offer what they call "a self organizing meshed calling network," thereby eliminating potentially vulnerable service control points and ensuring the continuation of emergency services even if the existing communication infrastructure has been disrupted.

Specifically, it will build upon the existing GNU SIP Witch VoIP server, which operates without introducing a central point through which communications can be intercepted or captured. GNU SIP Witch as well requires minimal system resources, making it suitable even for low-end embedded routers.

Number of popular Linux distributions

GNU SIP Witch is already packaged in a number of popular Linux distributions, including Ubuntu and Fedora, however it can as well be built on most BSD systems from source, and it supports compilation on Microsoft Windows as so then, according to the GNU Free Call project.

"We will extend SIP Witch to become aware of peer nodes by supporting host caches, and at the time support publishing of routes to connected peers," the project explains. Host caches are a mechanism used in older P2P networks and are easy to implement, it adds.

SIP mediation service for desktops users

SIP Witch will as well operate as a SIP mediation service for desktops users and IP-enabled cell phones including those running Android. Consequently, part of the project's plan is to build desktop and mobile GUIs that allow users to monitor the progress of their calls.

In addition, the project will extend SIP Witch to offer secure VoIP proxy, in doing so allowing any existing SIP-compliant device to establish a secure connection with another such device running SIP Witch at the destination.

For security, uniquely generated keys will protect each communication session, and GNU Privacy Guard--a free implementation of the OpenPGP standard--will automate session validation.

GNU Free Call could be valuable for "many ordinary public service uses, just as the delivery of eHealth services, as so then as medical, and legal communication, where it is essential to treat all with equal human dignity by maintaining privacy regardless of race, religion or political affiliation," the project notes. "Evenly important is the continuation of emergency medical services even when existing infrastructure is no longer available or has been specifically disabled."

Open source technologies offer numerous advantages for business users, as I've already noted. However the security, public safety and intervention-proof aspects of GNU Free Call make it particularly intriguing. This is all the same one to watch.