Re: [tlug] Skype Withdrawal: OSS VOIP Opportunity

[jep200404 <jep200404@example.com>]

CL wrote: 

> jep200404 wrote:
> > Obviously, one possibility is that OSS might be less 
> > vulnerable to a single point of failure than Skype. 
> 
> Skype failed due to programmer error (whether singular or multiple 
> instances of either, I don't know) ... or, so they claim.  As I was 
> reading, I was still thinking that OSS has the same potential 
> vulnerability in that regard.

Maybe, maybe not. I'm more ignorant than knowledgeable about this stuff, 
so I can only guess that with Skype, you must coordinate with Skype's 
servers at least initially to make and receive calls. I would guess 
that with OSS VOIP, one would still usually contact a "meeting place" 
server, but that one wouldn't be _forced_ to use a particular server. 
One could be enrolled on several "meeting place" servers, so that if 
one was not available, one could use another "meeting place" server. 
Also, I would expect to make connections to raw IP addresses with OSS VOIP. 

Like I said, I'm ignorant about this OSS VOIP stuff. How does it 
really work? What are OSS VOIP's technical vulnerabilites and 
difficulties? The biggest one I can think of is the difficulty 
of setting it up. 

Jim