On 18 June 2014 14:28, h <hdixon@bigpond.net.au> wrote:

On Wed, 18 Jun 2014 13:42:05 +1000 David <bouncingcats@gmail.com> wrote:

...

TLDR: I am running out of time to buy a webcam for use with Skype on Debian, can anyone suggest a brand or model that is known to work?

I'm asking for tips because I am on a tight timeline and the task is 5 hours drive away at a relative's house, where I'm going to install Debian 7.

They have requested Skype, I've not used it nor even webcams before.

I went to the local computer shop and plugged in a webcam and saw 0c45:62c0 in dmesg. But checking at home the Debian IRC bot "judd" says "Unknown device from unknown vendor".

So I'm looking for tips to at least purchase something that will work.

(I'm at work now so I cannot test anything.)

I've used skype with Mandriva, Rosa and OpenSuse. I have since moved on to Google Groups for video conferencing -- Doesn't meet your requirements, but my 2c. I have used a couple of different Logitechs (UVC compatible, but cannot remember serial numbers ~ cheapish but not cheapest) without problem. There is a skype list for ubuntu here https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SkypeWebCams which may help.

That list looks like a great help, thanks for it and your comments!

On Sun, 22 Jun 2014 17:49:24 +1000 Jason White <jason@jasonjgw.net> wrote:

h <hdixon@bigpond.net.au> wrote:

...

I've used skype with Mandriva, Rosa and OpenSuse. I have since moved on to Google Groups for video conferencing -- Doesn't meet your requirements, but my 2c.

Interestingly, whereas Google has been promoting WebRTC in the W3C and the IETF, that other large social network, Facebook, opted for a deal with Skype. http://blogs.skype.com/2011/07/07/under-the-hood-facebook-video/

I'm sure that will keep Skype relevant as a consumer-oriented service for quite a while - it's a strategically beneficial move. As I recall, Skype/Microsoft then proposed its own alternative to Google's protocol and API in negotiating the WebRTC standard.

Meanwhile, Apple has its own voice and video communication protocol. SIP is also widely used, at least for voice.

It seems we're still a long way from interoperability in this space. I suppose the situation isn't disastrous for Linux, since at least currently, all of these solutions (not sure about the Facebook/Skype plug-in, though) are supported.

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mmmmm, "supported" is the interesting phrase here. One of the reasons I moved on from skype (as a stand alone app) was difficulty in getting a build which would run. The linux version was generally a couple of releases behind, and would take me significant time to get running. I am generally communicating with windows users, so Apple is well beyond my exposure. H --