Alternative for Skype

Question

Skype

Due to periodic glitches, as well as the upcoming takeover of Skype by Microsoft and the uncertainty of what will happen to it next, I decided to try to find a replacement.

So, first of all, what I personally need from him.
1) Chat and group chat.
There is a nuance here. In Skype, group chats are implemented in such a way that if you do not go online, say, for a month, then when you log in, all messages will be downloaded from contacts present in the network. At the moment this is a killer feature for me.
2) Voice conferences (5 or more people)
3) Video (optional)
4) Availability of a client for windows and linux. At the same time, it is highly desirable that the client under windows be at least somewhat decent, otherwise it will be very difficult to transfer people.

Secondly - what I have already tried.
1) Xmpp with jingle support.
The first drawback is that the fate of this extension is not certain. Specifically XEP-0272: Multiparty Jingle , quoting "Implementation of the protocol described herein is not recommended."
The second drawback is that it actually works humanly only in one client (psi+). There are others under Windows, for example Miranda, but the compatibility of XEP-0272 implementations leaves much to be desired.
The third drawback is that voice conferences do not work so well, from time to time someone falls off and all that stuff.

And the fourth drawback, perhaps the main one - as far as I understand, the only way to make the Jabber download the entire history of group chats when logging in is to change the settings on the server. Those. raise your server. Correct me if I'm wrong and there is another way.

2) Ekiga. The main and only drawback is that it did not work at all. Doesn't call, doesn't show video. The text sends, yes, but even that is not convenient.

3) Blink is a pretty nice-looking client, it worked for me (arch linux) without any problems, except for the fact that it downloaded python2.6 and a bunch of modules for it, but several of my friends (windows 7) even refused start, and therefore check the performance and how exactly the chat / voice communication works there - I could not.

Any suggestions? :)

Answer 1

Maybe Gtalk is for you

Answer 2

XMPP aka Jabber
XMPP or Jabber (in fact, these words mean the same thing) is the name of an open decentralized network protocol that is used for instant messaging. It is designed as a server-client infrastructure with multiple servers all over the internet where anyone can get an account. These servers are typically connected to many clients on one side and to other Internet XMPP servers on the other side. Let's come up with a small example to explain how this works:
Romeo loves Juliet and wants to communicate with her through the Jabber network. He can write messages from his client (to which montague.net is connected) to his girlfriend, whose client is connected to the capulet.com server.
When he registered an account on the server, he chose the so-called JID (Jabber-Identifier). This JID works basically like an email address and is associated with the server name using the "@" symbol. An example for a valid Romeo JID is [email protected]
To communicate with other people, Romeo must add their JID to his contact list. They can be connected to the same server (for example, [email protected]), or they can come from a different server (for example, [email protected] or, of course, [email protected]).
Jabber Network Visualization
Jabber/XMPP, of course, supports many more services (eg, end-to-end message encryption, voice and video chat, group chat), which will be partly introduced later in the guide.
Two very large instant messaging providers run Jabber/XMPP on their servers in the background: Google Talk and facebook chat. Accounts on these systems can be used in the same way as regular Jabber accounts on Kopete. Details will be explained later or can be found on the websites of these providers.

Answer 3

webex.com is not free, but at a good level.
Microsoft's Enterprise Lync is very good.

Answer 4

it’s not entirely clear - the history of a group chat for a month is what you need? Or does it bother you?
I can also offer a Mail.Ru agent - not the full equivalent of Skype, but it satisfies some of your requirements, and in some places it may turn out to be even better.

Answer 5

Skype alternative, only SIP. there are many providers, many clients of varying degrees of crookedness. I did not find a group chat in SIP, the rest seems to be there. ekiga is one of the SIP clients, and not the most crooked, it's strange that it didn't work for you. Yes, NAT traversal in SIP is not automatic. You need to specify a STUN server.