Skype is Officially Dead Today and This is Why People Should Use Free Software Instead (Goodbye, Microsoft)
It's also a good reminder of why people should move to GNU/Linux, not some newer (i.e. worse) version of Windows, optimised to exploit users for Microsoft's commercial benefit and strict, wide-ranging US government control over all users at all times (even when gone offline!).
Today, or this morning in the US (this was one hour ago), some of the technical media will offer a timely and much-needed reminder; some will tell you to move to another Microsoft thing (checking the Web, some of the sites spew out promotional spam or chaff for Microsoft today; those sites are connected to Microsoft! "Microsoft mourners" psydroid calls them, "can't get more pathetic than this") and some will tell you to move to some other proprietary thing, i.e. move from one spyware to other spyware from another company, usually from the same country, i.e. the same masters. Few will have the guts/courage/"balls" to mention truly secure software because there's no "money" in selling confidentiality; sponsors, except phonies (false marketing), won't pay to seed such promotional (sponsored) articles. "Skype to go offline on May 5; Microsoft urges transition to Teams", said an LLM slop hub [1, 2, 3], failing to mention good and ethical alternatives. Maybe it does not quite "rhyme" in Microsoft-controlled LLMs [1, 2].
Forget about "Teams"; a lot of the media does "free marketing" for Microsoft today, in essence sending many "sheep" into Microsoft's pen across the road, where they will be harvested for a "meat grinder". An associate says that better-informed people - not "sheep" - should see bigbluebutton, jami, mumble [1, 2], or jitsi-meet instead. So instead of being "herded" into the very same entrapment they ought to liberate themselves and secure their communications from inherently hostile - or at best untrustworthy - prying eyes.
Remember that for over a decade already Skype was intentionally missing functionality or had broken clients for GNU/Linux (with a monopoly on the client side/software). it's a proprietary subculutre, hostile to any API-style efforts at access to the data or a reach to existing users/logins. Prior to Microsoft taking over Skype there were rumours about Skype exploring "opening up", i.e. changing this policy (to allow other software to access the Skype "network"), but Microsoft just centralised it all and put that under PRISM (NSA program), so it was just an American eavesdropping program, not a European "success story".
Anyway, Skype is dead now. Consider using a truly secure operating system and host something like Mumble/Murmur on it. It's not hard to do; it takes only a few minutes in a modern GNU/Linux distro. I did that several times already. Even old GNU/Linux distros (a decade ago) made that really easy.
GNU/Linux is rising quite fast and China is fast to adopt it as a matter of national security (also relevant is the fact that Vista 10 is dying and adoption of Vista 11 in China is laughably low; many use "expired" Vista 7; "Support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025."), with Chinese OEMs preloading GNU/Linux and offering discounts to those who shun Windows. Hours ago there was this report about Huawei the renegade: "Huawei has launched another “without Windows” notebook – MateBook X Pro 2024 Linux Edition. Just like other new editions, the latest PC is also available at a 300 yuan cheaper rate than the existing variant and has a Chinese national subsidy. Early inputs revealed that Microsoft’s license to supply Windows to Huawei is about to expire. The company won’t renew the license following the U.S. sanctions. As a result, Huawei is launching new Linux Editions for some select and existing PCs. Up to this point, the company has launched the Linux version for MateBook 14 and D 16. Now, it is bringing the new OS to the flagship MateBook X Pro."
Based on personal experience, as a replacement for Skype I'd suggest using Mumble/Murmur. It is available for many platforms. If you self-host it, to less tech-literate people you'd need to tell/instruct to get "some app" (like Mumla). Then, all they have to do is enter the correct address to connect. This recommendation was an OK one even more than a decade ago; even ages ago it was a very simple program to set up and use. What it lacks is broad(er) public awareness or "brand recognition".
As noted above, "[...] GNU/Linux is rising quite fast." It just takes more public awareness to gain acceptance on "the desktop"; the media is apathetic and uninterested because it gets paid a lot of money by companies like Microsoft and Apple. The associate also points out that Microsoft's monopoly on OEMs blocks true expansion beyond single digits. That's for laptops/desktops (GNU/Linux already dominates everything else). This can change quickly owing to word of mouth (grassroots) and market demand. In some countries, GNU/Linux is over 10% or increasingly close to it. The threshold for widespread adoption was crossed years ago. █
