Hi,

Some of my main projects are based on internet messangers. I created with success plugins which communicate with Skype API on Windows and Linux in clear Free Pascal. Now I decided to test SkypeKit which become Skype engine (without GUI) which doesn't need Skype client installed. But I am disappointed that multiplatform SkypeKit has support only for C++, Python and Java and doesn't have for multiplatform Free Pascal >:(
I am wondering... maybe create some online petition to Skype? I think that support for Free Pascal in such big project like SkypeKit could be a good marketing for Free Pascal and Lazarus. I prepared some sketch:

"This petition is created by a community centered around Free Pascal and Lazarus, addressed to SkypeKit developers.
Free Pascal is a professional open source Object Pascal compiler, and has the same idea as Skype(kit) project - to work on as many platforms as possible.
For now it is available for 32/64 bit processors like: Intel x86, Amd64/x86_64, PowerPC, PowerPC64, Sparc, ARM.
Supported operating systems: Linux, FreeBSD, Haiku, Mac OS X/Darwin, DOS, Win32, Win64, WinCE, OS/2, Netware (libc and classic), MorphOS, Amiga, Symbian and others.
Lazarus IDE adds support for such interfaces like Windows API, GTK, QT, Cocoa, Carbon and Android.

We are disappointed that such a rich and rapidly growing environment was omitted in SkypeKit project development.
We postulate for support for Free Pascal.
We believe that Free Pascal can fill a missing gap and compete on a par with such languages ??as C++, Python or Java, contributing to the growth popularity of Skype services.

Best regards. Free Pascal & Lazarus community."

Corrections are welcome (my English is not good).
What do you think about this? Worth?

Krzysztof wrote

I am wondering... maybe create some online petition to Skype? Corrections are welcome (my English is not good).

I don't know if there is merit in such a submission. But if so, my suggestions for slightly improved phrasing are as follows:

"This petition is submitted to the Skypekit developers from a community of Free Pascal and Lazarus users.
Free Pascal shares an aim of the Skype(kit) project - to run on as many platforms as possible.
This professional open source compiler is currently available for 32-bit and 64-bit processors such as Intel x86, AMD64/x86_64, PowerPC, PowerPC64, Sparc and ARM, and supported operating systems include Linux, FreeBSD, Haiku, Mac OS x/Darwin, Win32, Win64, WinCE, OS/2, Netware (libc and classic), MorphOS, Amiga and Symbian. The Lazarus IDE adds support for interfaces including the Windows API, GTK, QT, Cocoa, Carbon and Android.
We are disappointed that such a rich and continuously developing environment has been omitted from Skypekit project development, and write to ask for support for Free Pascal to be considered and included in future.
We believe that Free Pascal developers would extend and enhance Skype services, just as C++, Python and Java developers are doing.

Yours sincerely,
the Free Pascal and Lazarus community"

BTW, does FPC/Lazarus currently run under OS/2?

Howard

I don't know whether FPC's Symbian support is that good to be mentioned. Also the Cocoa and Android support of Lazarus is just at its start and not nearly as complete as the other widgetsets, so I don't know whether they should be mentioned either.

BTW, does FPC/Lazarus currently run under OS/2?

FPC yes, Lazarus AFAIK not.

Regards,
Sven

2011/12/5 Krzysztof :

SkypeKit has support only for C++, Python and Java and doesn't have for multiplatform Free Pascal >:(

Theoretically the skype developers should be aware of the existence of Lazarus/FPC. As far as I know the Skype GUI on Windows is (was?) written with Delphi and I assume that almost every serious Delphi developer should already have noticed the existence of Lazarus and Free Pascal.

Bernd

I'm not so sure about that. If they actually knew FPC/Lazarus they would have probably invested in it instead of rewriting Skype for Linux, MacOS, etc. _individually_ from scratch. A common codebase would have certainly made a lot of maintenance easier, even if they design the UI separately for each target platform.

Andreas Schneider hat am 6. Dezember 2011 um 10:47 geschrieben:

?
The Linux version of Skype came out in 2003. They probably evaluated even earlier. The LCL was not powerful enough at that time, the Windows version barely started. The other choice at that time was Kylix, based on QT. ?
Free Pascal bindings would be great. Although C bindings would be sufficient.Maybe there are no C bindings for the same reasons as for QT4. ?

Mattias
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2011/12/6 Mattias Gaertner :

Maybe there are no C bindings for the same reasons as for QT4.

Well, they (both this skype kit and Qt) have bindings for Java, and writting bindings for JNI is way more complex then a simple flattening for C. My guess is that pure C is simply loosing importance against C++. But maybe Skype would be receptive to a latter asking for Pascal support since they use it.

You do realize that Skype is now Microsoft?

2011/12/6 Marco van de Voort

You do realize that Skype is now Microsoft?

and Skype is not the only or dominant choice any more like it used to be. There are alternatives although I have not used them nor I know any details.

Maybe you should put the energy to some competing open source project.

Juha
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Name one, please (it is not sarcasm, I do not know any really working well ...)

If the concern is about VOIP only, then I would say: SIP. SIP has been there long before Skype and is still the default in most corporate environments. There are tons of clients supporting SIP (even most Cisco products). Maybe there are event protocol extensions to handle video chat.

I think there are pretty nice combinations of XMPP and SIP around to combine classical text based messengers with VOIP. AFAIK Google Talk uses XMPP+SIP. (Btw. XMPP is also older than Skype ... ;-))

XMPP can pass also codecs of audio and video, and SIP can pass mime based attachments, so you can make it send texts and html as well :) The Audio/Video of VoIP (or normal image) is passed by RTP, and both XMPP and SIP are groups of protocols rather only one.

But imho if we well have free SIP and XMPP servers that support free codecs (such as G711, silk etc..) then we do not need we still depends on clients that support such things. Most XMPP clients know how to pass text only. And most SIP based clients know how to pass Audio only.

My 2 cents :)

Ido

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An example would be GNU Telephony (
http://www.gnutelephony.org/index.php/GNU_Telephony ), I haven't tested it though, so sadly I don't know how good it works... (I want to test it somewhen(!) though :) )

Regards,
Sven

Dear friends:

I am trying to do a program with TDbf for actors?casting and I want to include a photo of the actor.

How can I do that?????

thanks in advance for your answering,

yours,

Ing. H?ctor F. Fiandor Rosario

2011/12/6 Marco Ciampa

Name one, please (it is not sarcasm, I do not know any really working well ...)

My friend told some time ago he uses an open source replacement for Skype. The biggest problem is that most people still have Skype, technically it can be replaced.

I will ask the product's name when I can reach the friend.

Juha
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07.12.2011 0:59, Juha Manninen ?????:

I dont think that compatible replacement exists, but there are many free VoIP implementations.

Maybe Ekiga?

The petition is a good idea, so feel free to ask them for their plans/reasons.

Mattias

Marco van de Voort wrote

You do realize that Skype is now Microsoft?

But they are hiring Delphi developers:

http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,15431.0.html

Of course that we still have to see what that will mean for their Linux client.

2011/12/6 Ing. H?ctor F. Fiandor Rosario:

I am trying to do a program with TDbf for actors?casting and I want to include a photo of the actor.

Store the photo as a binary blob (I think DBF supports BLOB fields). Otherwise base64 encode the image, then store it as a large varchar() field.

2011/12/7 Mattias Gaertner

Maybe Ekiga?

Yes, Ekiga and KPhone are multi-platform choices.
The friend's system was a free offering from a tele-company and was based on SJphone. That offering is now discontinued.

Juha
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2011/12/7 Ing. H?ctor F. Fiandor Rosario <hfiandor at ....>:

thanks very much,

My pleasure. If you are storing *.bmp files, they are uncompressed images (always I think), so can be rather large. If storage size might be a problem, I would then suggest you base64 encode the image, then gzip the base64 tex, then store in a field. This reduces the storage size considerably. This is what I use in some of my projects.

Dear Mr. Geldenhuys:

really your comments are good lessons for me, but I have to admits that my knowledges are so limited and can?t understand.

how to encode an image?
how to do gzip?
it?s correct to use de blob as field?

I am using the jpg images and obtain the same results.

if you understand that this answer are not suittable to the list, you can use my email,.

thanks in advance,

Ing. H?ctor F. Fiandor Rosario

Ing. H?ctor F. Fiandor Rosario wrote

I am using the jpg images and obtain the same results.

In that case the jpg file is already in a compressed form, so using base64 + gzip will not gain much. Using a standard BLOB field (like you already do) is fine in this case.

Dear Mr. Geldenhuys:

thanks very much.

Now I have already prepared a Report (LazReport) and I have added a "tipo" field coding de Sex+HairColor+SkinColor+YearBorn+MonthBorn thinking in an auxiliary index for ordering.

I have to learn a lot about how to do queries. In Access it is easy.

Thanks again,

Ing. H?ctor F. Fiandor Rosario

2011/12/7 Graeme Geldenhuys :

I wonder: why base64 encode the image in the first place? I thought it was to make plain ascii, suitable for a text field.

Then I don't understand how you can keep it plain ascii (no null characters, for example), if you gzip it.

Vincent

Well spotted Vincent. The order must be the other way round. gzip first, then base64 encode it, before storing in a text field in DB. The same process gets done when we transmit binary data via XML over HTTP in our multi-tier setup.