On Monday 30 March 2020 16:47:37 George N. White III wrote:
Ekiga <
https://www.ekiga.org/> was previous Gnome Meetings:
Available Packages
Name : ekiga
Version : 4.0.1
Release : 46.fc31
Architecture : x86_64
Size : 8.5 M
Source : ekiga-4.0.1-46.fc31.src.rpm
Repository : fedora
Summary : A Gnome based SIP/H323 teleconferencing application
URL :
https://www.ekiga.org/
License : GPLv2+
Description : Ekiga is a tool to communicate with video and audio over the
: internet. It uses the standard SIP and H323 protocols.
I've never used Ekiga as my video conferences have all had macOS or Windows
participants.
I thought Ekiga was just a VOIP client. I may take a closer look. The main stumbling
block as has already been said is the platform independance.
>
> Hosted systems like Zoom are not opensource, do not use a browser as a
> client, feed connection data to Facebook, only allow 2 participants for
> free, and not available for a local install.
>
Zoom says they have fixed the Facebook data leak.
<
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3b745/zoom-removes-code-that-sends-da...
I also have my concerns about Zoom. I particularly didn't like their MacOS hack to
bypass (hide) asking for permission to turn on the camera. They also openly admit that
they pass on (not sell) personal information to undesclosed third parties to aid their
business aims.
Unfortunately, my opinion was only sought AFTER my MD sent out an email telling everyone
to sign up and start using it.
As we are now using it I have had to have a look at it. I have installed their App on
Windows, Linux, IOS (Iphone) and Android (Galaxy S9). All apps do appear to work nicely
in their environment and play together.
We have not had many meetings using it yet, but I have tried it myself with three
attendees (all being myself on different devices) and it seemed failry seemless.
My first experience of Zoom was in a suport role. I had to have assistance from Fortinet
in fixing a problem with my firewall. Fortinet use Zoom for remote support and it worked
well. The advantage of this over TeamViewer, AnyDesk etc. is the audio facility meaning
you don't need to hold a phone to your ear.
Even using the free setup that we have opted for, I was able to simulate report support
onto someone else's laptop and again I found it seemless.
Skype now has a linux version.
I have been a long time Skype user, but again have never thought of it as a video
conferencing tool. Very few people seem to use it this days. Maybe Covid-19 may be
it's saviour.
Gary