Skype Nearly Goes Open Source

Skype has lately stated that it will be released under an open source license. It kicked off with a user’s suggestion to Skype that they preferred a Mandriva Linux edition of the application, which didn’t exist . Skype soon saw that this person was not alone in his request, and that many groups were complaining of a lack of this edition. Skype happily announced that they entered the open source community, which would allow Linux developers to help develop the future of Skype to answer the wants of various people.

But be clear that this version is limited to the Linux release alone, so Skype is not completely open source, but this is a a step in the right direction in stepping into the open source world. It also makes Skype the most popular communication software for Linux users obtainable currently.

Unfortunately there is no release date as yet and the details of the application are a bit unclear. Linux has confirmed that it is in development however, so let us wish they make good on their promise. One also expects this is only a beginning and that development and distribution of an open source Skype will begin to get to other platforms apart from the world of Linux as well.

While this announcement at Skype is a welcome move for the open source customization community, they still have  a lot of work to do until they are anywhere near the likes of Wordpress who are well known for the amount of Wordpress customization you can do with their software.

Although general reaction is warm, there are developers who say that Skype’s open source development is not officially open source free software in the accepted context. Mainly because it isn’t yet plain if only UI code will be available, while network code would stay closed, thus making it seem as though Skype is trying to seek support from the user base for free without contributing anything back. We will just have to wait and see what in the end comes of this. All in all, Skype seems to be progressing in the right direction, and we’ll have to see what the final service entails.