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Has anybody setup Raspberry Pi as cheap desktop PC for their family?

I would like to do that but first think I stumbled is Skype. My sister studies abroad so she and my mother talk a lot on Skype, and there is no Skype version for Raspberry Pi (arm cpu).

Is there any other VOIP app that works as great as Skype and is easy for parents to use? Video is not a strict requirement but a nice to have feature...

There is some talk on Raspberry Pi forums that MAYBE Skype will be able to run someday, but not today - http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1891

Steve Robillard
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valentt
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    Forget Skype, it's a broken insecure platform. IMO everyone should migrate to a better VOIP application anyway. – Jivings Jul 18 '12 at 10:51
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    What about Google Voice? – Steve Robillard Jul 18 '12 at 11:49
  • @Jivings which VOIP application do you suggest? It should be easy enough for regular users to use, not us geeks, I need something that I can give to my parents and sister... – valentt Jul 18 '12 at 13:06
  • I agree that skype shouldn't be used, because it can't be maintained by the community. But as concerns running skype: can't we take the Skype for ARM for Android or Maemo, and tweak the environment in the Linux system on Raspeberry PI so that it runs. There must be Skype builds for Android and for Maemo/Meego/Tizen/whatever. – imz -- Ivan Zakharyaschev Aug 25 '12 at 17:01
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    @imz It would need to be built for armv6. Not as simple as it sounds. – Jivings Aug 26 '12 at 10:45
  • Googling "armv6" "skype" gives some results: http://devforum.skype.com/t5/Compiling-Runtimes/SkypeKit-doesn-t-work-on-ARMv6/td-p/14069 or http://devforum.skype.com/t5/Compiling-Runtimes/linux-armv6-skypekit-voicepcm-videortp-still-Status-is-Building/td-p/14241 . So, there is something. Not that I support this direction. We should better find a free software and build a community-supported service for this task. – imz -- Ivan Zakharyaschev Aug 28 '12 at 07:21
  • I use UV4L and its Jitsi Meet plugin for VoIP with family – prinxis Nov 10 '15 at 20:06

4 Answers4

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After looking long and hard it looks like Mumble is best replacement for Skype. It needs a server but it is much easier to configure than Asterisk.

valentt
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Asterisk

Asterisk is an open source PBX.

Someone has a blog with a Debian image on which Asterisk is installed. There is also some evidence on the forums it is working.

Alex Chamberlain
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  • Asterisk is an overkill for this situation, and I don't know of anybody hosting free asterisk service :( It should be easy enough for regular users to use, not us geeks, I need something that I can give to my parents and sister... – valentt Jul 18 '12 at 13:05
  • Don't you just need a SIP trunk? – Alex Chamberlain Jul 18 '12 at 13:06
  • Since Skype was bought out by Microsoft, the Asterisk Skype gateway implementation has been stopped. But yes- using the likes of voipcheap is a great alternative to skype and you can use a SIP client on your smartphone to call the world at extrelly low cost. – Piotr Kula Oct 23 '12 at 11:55
0

I think that Linphone may be worth consideration, especially as it is also a videophone, and is still actively maintained.

Tobias Kienzler
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David Mackney
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I would use UV4L for two-way audio/video in the browser. Screenshot 1. It works with Jitsi Meet too.

strumpet
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