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ANOTHER reason to use free software

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Hey, we didn't need it, but sometimes a reminder of why free software use is so important is a welcome thing.

In case you missed it, /. and other places are reporting that the popular VOIP phone app Skype (which also has a GNU/Linux version) reads your computer's BIOS into the VOIP app.

Is there a legit reason for this?

Or is it, as some have speculated, just a way for Skype to get your motherboard's serial number and to use it as a way to ID your computer?

In a free software world, such an app would be required to explain why.

But in the proprietary, closed-source world of Skype, we're lucky to even know that they're reading the BIOS at all...

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ANOTHER reason to use free

Submitted by vees on Wed, 2007-02-07 09:23.

thanks a lot for this piece of info. I will pass it on to all my skype using contacts!

Motto: chown -R linux:GNU world
Distros: Debian, gNewSense

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voip

Submitted by ken3d on Wed, 2007-02-07 17:25.

I am waiting for my next issue of Linux Journal to cover voip. Right now I pay vonage, but if there is an open source alternative I will use it.

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Re: voip

Submitted by IntnsRed on Wed, 2007-02-07 19:51.

Quote:
I am waiting for my next issue of Linux Journal to cover voip.

That sounds like an interesting issue (he says making a mental note to pick it up).

Quote:
Right now I pay vonage, but if there is an open source alternative I will use it.

Vonage is nice in that it doesn't require a specific computer OS (at least I think that's the case), but it does use a proprietary protocol.

There are some alternatives (e.g. BroadVoice) which use open (or open and proprietary) protocols.

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Re: voip

Submitted by Seaslug on Thu, 2007-02-08 07:38.

Quote:

"he says making a mental note to pick it up"

I don't do those kind of notes anymore... they get lost too easily...

Quote:

"There are some alternatives ... which use open (or open and proprietary) protocols."

Interesting - I've been putting this off for years, precisely for the reasons you stated, Red - I don't like making things easy for the bad guys.

--
Jai yen

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