How to install Skype in Ubuntu on ARM

armskypesoftware installation

I wonder how to install and use Skype in Ubuntu (12.04) on ARM architecture (my Toshiba AC100, which originally ran Android).

I suppose there must be Skype builds for Linux on ARM: for Android, and for Maemo/Meego/Tizen.

Where can one get these builds and how to adapt them for a usual GNU/Linux system like Ubuntu?

(But, generally, I believe that we must be able to solve our problems ourselves rather than depend on the publishers of non-free software. It wouldn't be such an ugly situation if the question was about free software: we could try to adpat it for ARM and build ourselves.

Also, the Skype communication protocol is not open, posing more problems for our freedom and security.

But this question merely asks for instructions for those who need Skype working on their ARM computers, without the concerns about freedom and considerations of other VoIP protocols and software.)

Best Answer

Skype has no official support for any ARM based device, as you alreay know, you could create a debian package on your own. Extracting the meego package, repackage it with adapted paths. Use ld/ldd to get any dependencies. Be aware that this may or may not work depending on the compiler options used for skype/ubuntu (ARM ABI, hard/soft float, neon extensions, ...).

You should also be aware of license restrictions, i.e. repackaging and/or redistribution may be prohibited.

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Installing Skype in Ubuntu

To install skype you need to Enable The Canonical Partners Repository

open the terminal and type the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ $(lsb_release -sc) partner"

To perform an installation of i386 package on 64-bit system we need to enable multi-architecture to support both platforms.

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

Update and install skype:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install skype

Also you can install it manually.

Download the .deb package from the official website (e,g):

wget http://download.skype.com/linux/skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update
sudo dpkg -i skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
sudo apt-get -f install

Arch Linux – How to Install Skype

You are correctly using the Skype AUR package. Please follow the makepkg path of installing AUR packages (please do not get used to things like yaourt if you care about the security of your machine).

$ wget https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/snapshot/skypeforlinux-bin.tar.gz
$ tar zxf skypeforlinux-bin.tar.gz
$ cd skypeforlinux-bin
$ makepkg -s  # or install dependencies manually if you do not have sudo

The step that often fails is makepkg -s, which would install dependencies for the package. That command requires sudo which is not installed by default on Arch. Another option is to simply install the dependencies by hand before running makepkg. The AUR package page lists the dependencies and all are available from the default repositories (there are no AUR dependencies for skype).

This results in skypeforlinux-bin-1.x.x.x-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (there is no support for i386 in this package, x.x.x.x stands for the current version of the package). The install it as root.

# pacman -U /path/to/package/skypeforlinux-bin-1.x.x.x-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

Yet, and that is a very bit yet, the skype AUR package breaks often. People argue that it is because of Microsoft reworking the protocol too often without backward compatibility, or that the Debian package that is provided by skype/microsoft is never up to date to the actual skype. You can see a huge discussion about that on the AUR skype package page, in the comments.

As an Arch user what I do to use skype (and I do it only if I must) is that I install chromium:

pacman -S chromium

And the skype plugin for it.

Or even use the web app with:

chromium --app=https://web.skype.com

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Installing Skype in Ubuntu

Arch Linux – How to Install Skype

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