Re: status of skype amd64

[Michael <codejodler@gmx.ch>]

Thanks for your suggestions ! 

There seem to be at least 3 versions of debian packages:

skype-debian_2.1.0.81-1_i386.deb
skype_static-2.1.0.81.tar.bz2
skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.81-1_amd64.deb

But i could not get any of these working beyond the license agreement resp. login.

I found this hint in the skype packages README:

* On Debian amd64 version Skype crashes on startup with the message: 
    "Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 623: _dl_open: Assertion 
    `_dl_debug_initialize (0, args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT' failed!"
    This seems to be Debian only issue with 32 bit PulseAudio libraries being 
    installed even if PulseAudio is not active, a workaround can be:
    - Debian Lenny: 
      sudo chmod a-r /usr/lib32/libpulse{-simple.so.0.0.1,.so.0.4.1}
    - Debian Squeeze:
      sudo chmod a-r /usr/lib32/libpulse{-simple.so.0.0.2,.so.0.8.0,common-0.9.15.so}

But there are other apps which need libpulse, like avidemux or (i think) amarok, and i don't want to 'corrupt' the system.

Another option seem to be to setup a special skype 32bit library repository and extend the users LD path. Maybe i'll try that next.

It seems skype is not included into the debian ia32 list of programs ? And yes, there isn't any official skype package in non-free. I just wonder why.

Hmm, so what woul dbe alternatives, considereing some people out there want to 'skype' for  business. Is there any IM program that can flawless manage accounts of different protocols like Sykpe, ICQ or SIP, altogether ? Pidgin seems to just call the skype app, so it requires a working skype installation. But is there a software that doesn't ?