Tox: A free and open Skype replacement

http://tox.im/

https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core

 

Interesting. I've became so skeptical to all these privacy heroes nowadays. But thanks for the tip anyway.

 

Same here. But Im s till waiting for TrueCrypt like open source version of Skype.

 

I have too. I'm seeing a lot of "nobodies" coming out of the woodwork with promises that are harder to keep than most realize. I'm not at all saying this Tox or other providers are intentionally cashing in on the fear and distrust, but it's very easy to get sucked in with a lot of techie talk and assurances. Tox is worth keeping an eye on though, it might turn out to be a wonderful service.

 

Why not just use Jitsi? It's been around for ages, not a new "privacy hero". No registering to yet another company, unless it supports XMPP, etc.

Also, it has a 64bit version.

 

Jitsi works perfectly for me for computer to computer calls via Google Talk (chat, audio and video). I've only used it on Windows although there's a linux version too.

That said, I have a lot of contacts on skype so it would be nice if they added proper encryption to it. Also, it works better on mobile devices. There's a beta version of Jitsi for android but it requires setting up a SIP account, which I'm not sure about. Gibberbot for IMs is ok on android.

As for Tox, I'm curious why it's in the news now even though they don't have version available for download? (Saw it mentioned on reddit too). What's so special about Tox that it gets pimped even before a working release?

 

works fine on linux too. only downside: it's written in Java and can be pretty resource consuming, especially on older machines.

afaik there will be now interaction with skype. you either use tox or skype. i hope that jitsi will add xmpp support for android soon. setting up SIP is just not as easy. i hope, they will release an mobile version of tox too...but yeah, let them finish desktop first;-)

Jitsi only works with a server, either XMPP or SIP. Tox is supposed to work serverless with DHT.

 

Note: Tox is pre-Alpha, which means it is not yet ready for prime time.

After Alpha testing comes Beta testing.

When it finally gets released after Beta testing is completed, that is the time to download and use it, not before for the general user.

-- Tom

 

That does sound interesting, I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

 

I recently switched to Vsee. Which is designed for 3G (slow internet) and encrypted end to end. It's also very light on resources and doesn't suck up as much CPU as Skype or Jitsi. And no annoying icon either.