Skype for Linux not quite there yet

Since Skype decided to release the “beta” for their SkypeIn service, which gives you both an inbound PSTN number for your Skype account and voicemail (which is also available seperately), I figured it’d be a good time to give Skype on Linux a try. So being a Gentoo kind of guy, I did an emerge search and lo and behold, there was an ebuild for Skype. So a sudo emerge skype later, Skype was there in all it’s glory.

Small problem with it, though. When I tried to make a call with Skype, the app completely disappeared. Segmentation fault. There are at least two different reasons it dumped core, one of which I fixed by modifying the start script for Skype. The other is buried deep in the binary somewhere. Since Skype is distributed in binary form, good luck in finding a fix for it.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who has this problem, according to this thread on Skype forums.

Oh well, I guess I’ll load Skype on my Pocket PC again or maybe even my laptop.