Ubuntu – Where can I find an older Ubuntu version of Skype that still works with alsa

This seems to work, though you must understand that it isn't replacing pulseaudio with alsa but just removing pulseaudio(the front-end).

sudo apt-get autoremove pulseaudio

However alsa still needs a graphical user interface for you to easily communicate with it say goodbye to the easy integrated indicator that Ubuntu comes with

sudo apt-get install gnome-alsamixer

You can also do all of this in the Ubuntu Software Centre.

Alright, at the risk of answering my own question, I came up with a bit of a hacked together pyqt version of pvol from the link in the question above. If nothing else, maybe someone else can improve on my code. Eventually, I plan to either get rid of the parts in the script below which go unused or to take the bash scripts out of the equation and have one pyqt script handle all of the button events. Right now, the OSD times out at a constant rate from the first button press instead of staying on for a fixed amount of time after the last button press.

Just copy, paste and save the files (with the names in bold), put them all in the same directory, set the executable bits, and modify the system calls in the pyqt script according to wherever you save them, or put them all in directory that's in your path. Then map the shell scripts to Compiz commands, Openbox shortcuts, or something similar, and change the pyqt script if you're not using multimedia keyboard volume buttons.

Note: The class name Qvol was a working title, and I didn't bother to change it. Please also note that the mute button goes unhandled--This is just a prototype to express a possible avenue for fulfilling the requested features, and it is not currently associated with any kind of hosted project or standard development model. Any kind of significant development derived from the code below should probably belong on Sourceforge, GitHub or a project website. That said, feel free to edit this answer or to suggest an existing project which allows is similar in function and design.

vol_step_down

#!/bin/bash
pulseaudio --check
#if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
        pactl set-sink-volume 0 -- -3db
    else
        amixer -c0 set Master playback 3-
fi

if [ -z "$1" ] ; then
        pqvol -s
fi

vol_step_up

#!/bin/bash
pulseaudio --check
#if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
        pactl set-sink-volume 0 -- +3db
    else
        amixer -c0 set Master playback 3+
fi

if [ -z "$1" ] ; then
    pqvol -s
fi

pqvol

#!/usr/bin/env python2

# pvol -- Commandline audio volume utility
#         with an optional GTK progressbar
# Copyright (C) 2009 Adrian C. <anrxc_sysphere_org>
# Modified by 2011 Reza Jelveh
# Ported to pyqt and renamed to pqvol 2013 by Adam R.

# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.


import os.path
import optparse
import alsaaudio
import sys
from PyQt4 import QtGui, QtCore
from PyQt4.QtCore import QTimer

appname = "Qvol"
#appicon = "/usr/share/icons/ubuntu-mono-light/status/24/audio-volume-high-panel.svg"

DEFAULT_STYLE = """
QProgressBar{
    border: 2px solid grey;
    border-radius: 5px;
    background-color: transparent;
}

QProgressBar::chunk {
    background-color: Gainsboro;
}
"""

class AlsaMixer():
    def __init__(self, pcm=False, mute=False, arg=None):
        self.mixer = alsaaudio.Mixer()
        self.percent = self.mixer.getvolume()[0]
        print self.percent
        self.label = "dB" #% name
        if arg:
            self.percent = min(100, max(0, self.percent + int(arg)))
            self.mixer.setvolume(self.percent)
        if mute:
            mutestate = self.mixer.getmute()[0]
            if mutestate:
                self.label = "Unmuted: "
            else:
                self.label = "Muted: "

            self.mixer.setmute(mutestate^1)
 #     self.label = self.label + "%.0f%%" % self.percent

class Qvol(QtGui.QWidget):

    def __init__(self):
        super(Qvol, self).__init__()
#       self.setWindowFlags(QtCore.Qt.WindowStaysOnTopHint)
        self.setWindowFlags(QtCore.Qt.FramelessWindowHint)
        self.setWindowFlags(QtCore.Qt.Popup)
        self.setAttribute(QtCore.Qt.WA_TranslucentBackground)
        self.setWindowTitle("Qvol")
        self.initUI()

    def initUI(self):     

        self.pbar = QtGui.QProgressBar(self)
        self.pbar.setGeometry(5, 5, 20, 470)
        self.pbar.setOrientation(QtCore.Qt.Vertical)
        self.pbar.setRange(0,100)
        volume = AlsaMixer()
        self.pbar.setValue(volume.percent)
        self.pbar.setTextVisible(False)
        self.setStyleSheet(DEFAULT_STYLE)

        self.setGeometry(1260, 180, 30, 480)
        self.setWindowTitle('QtGui.QProgressBar')
        self.show()


        QTimer.singleShot(2000, finished)

    def keyPressEvent(self, event):
        if event.key()==QtCore.Qt.Key_VolumeMute:
#           QtGui.QWidget.paintEvent()
            finished()
        elif event.key()==QtCore.Qt.Key_VolumeDown:
            launch_process ("vol_step_down silent")
            volume=AlsaMixer()
            self.pbar.setValue(volume.percent)
#           finished()
        elif event.key()==QtCore.Qt.Key_VolumeUp:
            launch_process ("vol_step_up silent")
            volume=AlsaMixer()
            self.pbar.setValue(volume.percent)
#           finished()

#       else:
#           QtGui.QWidget.keyPressEvent(self, event)


processes = set([])

def launch_process(process):
    # Do something asynchronously
    proc = QtCore.QProcess()
    processes.add(proc)
    proc.start(process)
    proc.waitForFinished(-1)

def finished():
    print "The process is done!"
    # Quit the app
    QtCore.QCoreApplication.instance().quit()


def main():

    app = QtGui.QApplication(sys.argv)
    ex = Qvol()
    sys.exit(app.exec_())


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()