Mac Pro and Linux

Skype on 64-bit Gutsy
October 24, 2007

Forget about all the complicated tutorials and installing a billion libs. This is the quick and easy way:

1. Make sure you have the latest 32-bit libs
   

   apt-get install ia32-libs

2. Download the latest static version of Skype. Right now it is:
   

   wget http://skype.com/go/getskype-linux-static

3. Extract it with
   

   tar -xf skype_static-1.4.0.118.tar.bz2

4. Move it to /usr/local
   

   mv skype_static-1.4.0.118 /usr/local/

5. Create a symbolic link to it
   

   ln -s /usr/local/skype_static-1.4.0.118 /usr/local/skype

6. Create another one in /usr/bin/
   

   ln -s /usr/local/skype/skype /usr/bin/

7. Run it
   

   skype

Update: If you want to create an icon on your Desktop for Skype, than:

1. Create a file called Skype.desktop
   

   gedit ~/Desktop/Skype.desktop

2. Copy-paste this into the file
   

   [Desktop Entry]
   Encoding=UTF-8
   Version=1.0
   Type=Application
   Terminal=false
   Exec=skype
   Name=Skype
   Icon=/usr/local/skype/icons/SkypeBlue_48x48.png

That's it. Have fun!

Posted byvfxdude at 4:29 PM  

10 comments:

Anonymous said... October 29, 2007 at 3:45 PM  

thank you very much! at last some easy way to get it working!

any ideas on how to make opera work same way?

vfxdude said... October 29, 2007 at 10:42 PM  

Hi,

glad it worked for you!

Getting Opera running is following the same principle of using the static compiled packages.

1. Go to the Opera download page
http://www.opera.com/download/

2. Under "Select distribution and vendor", choose "Other/Static DEB" to download the static package.

3. Install it with
dpkg -i --force-all opera_whatever.deb

4. Run with
opera

Have fun!

Anonymous said... December 1, 2007 at 7:43 PM  

these instructions are useful and compact. thanks a lot!

Anonymous said... January 17, 2008 at 6:51 PM  

Nice and easy, I like it.

Will it work with a newer version of skype? This one does not seem to use my webcam (however that could be because my drivers are not installed yet).

Anonymous said... January 19, 2008 at 6:25 PM  

Sure. It works the same way with the latest 2.0 beta. Check it out!

Anonymous said... February 25, 2008 at 2:13 PM  

I'm having some problems in step 7. When I try to run skype error message shows:

error while loading shared libraries: libsigc-2.0.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.

Is it possible to get libsigc--2.0.so.0 for CentOS, and if is, where could I get it?

mr91nk said... May 25, 2008 at 10:52 AM  

This comment has been removed by the author.

mr91nk said... May 25, 2008 at 10:53 AM  

Kudos for a very simple and straightforward description. Works like a dream for me! :)

Anonymous said... June 16, 2008 at 8:55 PM  

thanks, great!

Anonymous said... November 27, 2008 at 11:07 PM  

Thanks for the very easy guide! My problem is that when I try to run Skype, I get a message "No protocol specified". Is the problem with my newest Kubuntu (8.something, if I remember correctly)? My Skype package is therefore 2.0.0.72 instead of what you had on the example. Anyway, if someone could help me solve this, I would appreciate it!

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