Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 10th May 2011 08:19 UTC, submitted by porcel
So, the biggest acquisition in Microsoft's history. The Wall Street Journal reports - and it has been confirmed - that Microsoft and Skype will announce today that Redmond will buy Skype for $8.5 billion. That's a lot of money for a company that hasn't ever actually made any profits. Update: and it's official: yay on Skype on the Xbox360 and Windows Phone, and this: "Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms." Let's hope this includes Linux.
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Member since:
2007-09-06
A truly OSS skype alternative would indeed be welcome. What are the chances it would retain the POTS bridges though? I frequently use Skype to call long distance to land line numbers. I could actually reverse that and have a land line number that forwards to my local Skype if I wanted.
I do see an OSS version being able to match or improve on Skype to Skype functions. Here's hoping that OSS project can also manage to make a business of it and provide access to POTS lines. I'd be happy to give them my $2.95 a month instead of Microsoft.
Given Hackerspaces and community projects that have managed to setup and provide local ISP services, it's possible. Come on all you Hackerspaces out there; get coding some voip and see if you can make it happen.