Reality Check

I used to have Skype set up on my systems so that folks could call and leave me a voice message for the podcasts. I never really got much in the way of feedback via voice, only email. So, at some point I simply stopped using Skype. It still shows up on the main page with a button to leave me a voice mail, but I rarely if ever have the Skype turned on.

Right now, I’ve just rebuilt my machines into Ubuntu (lap top is running the desktop version and my desktop machine is running a server version) - and in doing some research I discovered some interesting, if not shocking things about Skype and Voice over IP (VOIP) in general.

At this link we discover there are some interesting aspects about Skype of which I was not previously aware. For instance, apparently there has been some cooperation with the country of China on censorship - something that “free” people should shun at all times. In digging through the documentation, I came across the link for SkypeEthics and a couple of articles about it, one from The Register and another from FT.com giving information that Skype, Ebay and even Google are helping China censor communications out of that country.

I have no love whatever for the Chinese Government. I spent a month over there seeing how they lived, and how the government treated it’s people. China is not a Saint when it comes to commercial espionage, and espionage against the United States - which is my home and I’m proud of that fact. I also know for a fact, based on open source information that China PLANS to be at war with our country in the next decade. This is backed up by their own Generals and white papers they’ve written stating they need to be in charge of the Pacific Rim, and their main competition is the US.

Given that the Chinese keep their people in the dark, and refuse to allow freedoms we have in this country it is simple amazing that Google, Skype and eBay would kowtow to Beijing and assist them in censoring the Chinese people - preventing good human rights.

Therefore, it is with that in mind that I will no longer use Skype for a communications VOIP program, and will remove it shortly from my web pages forever (or until they wake the hell up). In the mean time I will evaluate several other programs that can run under Linux and can use data encryption to determine which is better. Personally I don’t think anyone should be listening to my voice mail, email or any other communication I make - however, I make exception to Amateur Radio, since it is specifically forbidden in our regulations to use any sort of encryption of data or voice. I find that too, to be a bit “heavy handed” of our own government to forbid encryption. But, having worked with voice and data encryption for the better part of two decades now, I do understand the reasoning of the NSA to prevent it.

On the other (third?) hand, I believe that Americans have an innate right to privacy and unless they are doing something illegal, no one has a right to dig into our daily, private conversations with our loved ones, business professionals and certainly not to just “listen in to see if we’re behaving appropriately”. NO one has that right. NO one should be able to decide if I am “behaving appropriately” except me. Especially not the Government. They are there to protect my rights, not negate them.

On the subject of free VOIP software for Ubuntu (and other Linux distros) there are several listed on the Ubuntu documentation pages, there are three:

VoIP soft-phones included in Ubuntu

There are several alternative software based VoIP phones, that are ‘free libre open’, use ‘open’ protocols, and are included in the Ubuntu repositories. Among others, there are:

* Ekiga
* Twinkle
* Wengophone

Off the cuff, and with a quick scan of the pages, I’d say that the first one, Ekiga, appears to be the most “compatible” with most VOIP services and apparently can communicate with other software systems of VOIP. It comes “standard” on Ubuntu installs, and it can run under an MS Windows environment. Ekiga is also compatible with Netmeeting (H.323, windows), Windows Messenger as well as some other packages.

Twinkle is a Linux-only application and according to the site:

In addition to making basic voice calls Twinkle provides you the following features:

* 2 call appearances (lines)
* Multiple active call identities
* Custom ring tones
* Call Waiting
* Call Hold
* 3-way conference calling
* Mute
* Call redirection on demand
* Call redirection unconditional
* Call redirection when busy
* Call redirection no answer
* Reject call redirection request
* Blind call transfer
* Call transfer with consultation (attended call transfer)
* Reject call transfer request
* Call reject
* Repeat last call
* Do not disturb
* Auto answer
* Message Waiting Inidication
* Voice mail speed dial
* Presence
* Instant messaging
* User defineable scripts triggered on call events
E.g. to implement selective call reject or distinctive ringing
* RFC 2833 DTMF events
* Inband DTMF
* Out-of-band DTMF (SIP INFO)
* STUN support for NAT traversal
* Send NAT keep alive packets when using STUN
* NAT traversal through static provisioning
* Missed call indication
* History of call detail records for incoming, outgoing, successful and missed calls
* DNS SRV support
* Automatic failover to an alternate server if a server is unavailable
* Other programs can originate a SIP call via Twinkle, e.g. call from address book
* System tray icon
* System tray menu to quickly originate and answer calls while Twinkle stays hidden
* User defineable number conversion rules
* Simple address book
* Support for UDP and TCP (new) as transport for SIP

Here’s a screen shot, borrowed from the site:

And here are some reviews.

On the third application, it appears to be of French origin, and I’m sort of ambivalent about that aspect of a piece of software. I don’t really like the French much, and when I have visited that country, I’ve encountered nothing but rude, snotty people who seem to dislike Americans. While I remained polite to them all, they were rude to me. So, I just won’t use any of their products and I won’t ever visit the country again nor spend money there. They can keep their snotty attitude - and I’ll keep mine

My last comments on Skype are echoed in this article and instead of me writing what I think, I’ll quote this article and the pertinent part… go to the article for his links and documentation.

http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/357

What’s that you said?
Skype has many things going for it. Among the various software-based VoIP apps (which thereby excludes hardware-based offerings like Vonage from consideration), Skype probably works the best in terms of computer-to-computer, computer-to-land line, and computer-to-cell based calling. It’s easy to set up and use, and it works on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux boxes. Skype also provides more than just VoIP, with IM and file transfer also available. I’ve used it quite a bit, and overall, I’ve been happy with its sound quality, as have many other people, given that the program has been downloaded more than 100 million times. It has more than 52 million registered users (among those 2 million paying customers), and well over 3 million people are online and using the program right now, as I’m typing this column.

But that doesn’t mean that Skype is perfect. Far from it. Skype claims that it uses strong encryption to protect phone calls, IM messages, and file transfers:

“Skype uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), also known as Rijndael, which is used by U.S. Government organizations to protect sensitive, information. Skype uses 256-bit encryption, which has a total of 1.1 x 1077 possible keys, in order to actively encrypt the data in each Skype call or instant message. Skype uses 1024 bit RSA to negotiate symmetric AES keys. User public keys are certified by the Skype server at login using 1536 or 2048-bit RSA certificates.”

Here’s the problem with that statement: since Skype is an insistently closed source program - and one that additionally uses a proprietary protocol, but I’ll get to that in a moment - we have no way of verifying Skype’s security. We simply have to take them at their word that their encryption works. For such an important program, that’s quite a problem. I’m just not sure how safe I feel when Skype says, “Trust me - everything’s going to be fine.”

One other thing about Skype that bugs me is that it apparently can, and does, use YOUR machine to assist in directing and assisting other stations with VOIP out side of your personal direction and control on your own machine. What this means is, your personally paid-for-out-of-pocket expenses on your ISP are being used without your permission. Check this link for more information on this situation.

All of this said, I rarely use any VOIP communications other than some ham radio applications, specifically EchoLink, which I might mention later on in another post. But, for the most part, when I was doing podcasts and looking for some feedback, I rarely got much. I suppose that my podcasts aren’t that great (I don’t think they are all that great) but at the same time I’ve had a lot of feedback about them via email. That tells me that most people just aren’t into the VOIP thing yet, and those that are most likely are Geekier than me (which I seriously doubt).

Somewhere along the way, many years ago I started using various distros of Linux.

I’ve used Slackware, Redhat (several versions), CentOS, and recently started using Ubuntu 8.04.

My old laptop is a Compaq Presario 2170US and has been through a couple of hard drives, the original being a 40 gig drive that finally bit the dust after being used for XP, then XP professional and massive online gaming on the MMORPG Dark Ages of Camelot. (Wife and I moved on to World of Warcraft a couple of years back though and I built better computers than the laptop for that).

A few weeks back my laptop’s hd (which was now an 80 gig drive) died a violent, heat-related death and I replaced it with a nice, new 160 gig drive a few days ago. I installed CentOS 4.3 and had several issues trying to get wireless to work - and since I want to be able to sit on the deck this summer and browse the internet and read, I wanted to get the wireless components working with little or no effort.

I started searching and found several folks saying how Ubuntu would fill the bill, and sure enough, after downloading version 8.04 last Thursday, I’m up and running. In fact, wireless works like a champ, and I can switch back and forth on the wire to the router, or run wireless without reboots, or much other than check-marking a setting for the network. It’s awesome.

The one problem I found is that when I’m at the desk I can’t use the external monitor, but think I might have found a couple of solutions I’ll try soon enough. There are some issues with putting the right information in the /etc/xorg.conf file - and I need to do a bit more research to see if there is an “easy way” through a GUI and hopefully by this weekend I ought to be able to switch from the lap top’s screen to the big 19″ wide screen display I use for my Linux boxes.

So far, Ubuntu has been a breeze to use, configure and load new software. Last night, I loaded WINE as easily as if I inserted a CD into a windows machine. (I hate to compare things in Linux to Windows, but it’s not very difficult to load Windows software, whereas, unless you’re a real computer geek with some serious background in playing with OSes, you’re not going to take the average Windows user and hand him or her a Linux based machine and say “Go for it!” without some serious headaches on their part). On the other hand, Windows IS the “standard” in the Computer World and around the Planet at the moment. Besides, I might have a reason or two to use some Windows Applications.

I’m hoping that we can change that view of operating systems, and proprietary software, drives and operating systems some day. This will only serve to make things easier in the future and eventually force a more competitive atmosphere in the gaming industry to ensure that games like World of Warcraft will EASILY run under any Linux OS without major Geek-Head-Tweaking that is currently required.

The ONLY reason I keep a windows machine around is for playing online games - something I suppose a half-century-old man ought NOT be doing in his spare time, but hey, you know, I EARNED my gray hair and I deserve to live in whatever fantasy world I chose! All I can say to game manufacturers is “You folks REALLY need to wake up and smell the coffee - and the free money — if you can start making things work under Linux!”

Hey, here’s a quick video from Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal’s Science and Technology Journal… he’s not happy with Ubuntu - and this was done in Sep 2007. As he says, though, Linux still isn’t quite ready for main stream, non-technical users. Those with a bit more computer background and savvy though are certainly pretty happy. Especially if all you’re really doing is browsing the internet, listening to music and sending/receiving emails. So listen to him, and check out linux if you’re a mind too…

For anyone that would like to download the version I’m using go to this link.