Microsoft deal will boost open Skype alternatives

Now that Microsoft has bought the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) leader, the shock in many circles is palpable. Widely viewed as primarily a defensive move, the acquisition has many wondering how Microsoft will integrate the service with offerings of its own -- most notably Windows Live Messenger -- not to mention how it will affect the 170 million or so Skype users around the globe.

"Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities," it wrote in its press release on the topic, for instance.

Not only that, however "Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype customers on non-Microsoft platforms," the company asserted. Currently, there are Skype apps for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X along with Android, Blackberry, iOS and Symbian devices.

Given Microsoft's track record, nevertheless, I find it very difficult to believe that it will invest any resources at all in maintaining Skype for competing platforms in the end, particularly Linux and Android. In short, the company has a long history of proclaiming its "love" for open source products during simultaneously doing all it can to scare users away from them.

As I noted previously this year, a new effort was recently launched by the GNU Project to create an open source Skype alternative. Called GNU Free Call, the new initiative aims to offer a service that's secure and usable on all platforms. It will as well be 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.

Ekiga -- formerly known as GnomeMeeting -- is a free and open source application that offers VoIP and video conferencing for GNOME and Windows. It supports HD sound quality and video up to DVD size and quality, and it supports both the Session Initiation Protocol and H.323 protocols, making it interoperable with many other standards-compliant software packages, hardware devices and service providers.

Available for Linux, Mac and Windows, Blink is a free and easy-to-use SIP client that offers VoIP, instant messaging, conferencing, file transfer and desktop sharing.

VoIP application for Linux

Linphone is a VoIP application for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Android and iPhone. It as well uses SIP and is licensed in accordance with the GNU General Public License.