source: skype/README @ 6344674

Last change on this file since 6344674 was 6344674, checked in by Miklos Vajna <vmiklos@…>, at 2008-06-01T22:44:26Z

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[0c60f96]1= Skype plugin for BitlBee
[7f1cf70]2Miklos Vajna <vmiklos-at-vmiklos-dot-hu>
[afe221f]3
[56e4ac4]4== Status
5
[4eaadf6]6[Wilmer van der Gaast (author of BitlBee)]
7____
8Okay, this exists now, with lots of thanks to vmiklos for his *excellent*
9work!!
10
11It's not in the main BitlBee and it'll never be for various reasons, but
12because it's a plugin that shouldn't be a problem.
13____
14
[56e4ac4]15One day I browsed the BitlBee bugtracker and found
16http://bugs.bitlbee.org/bitlbee/ticket/82[this] ticket. Then after a while I
[1138b25]17returned and saw that it was still open. So I wrote it.
[56e4ac4]18
[2042b56]19It's pretty stable, I use it for my daily work. Being a plug-in, no patching
[20994cb]20is required, you can just install it after installing BitlBee itself.
[75742cc]21
[4c3a4c8]22NOTE: You will see that this implementation of the Skype plug-in still requires
[54c269d]23a Skype instance to be running. This is because I'm not motivated to reverse
24engineer Skype's
25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype_Protocol#Obfuscation_Layer[obfuscation
26layer]. (Not mentioning that you should ask your lawyer about if it is legal or
27not..)
28
[22d97b4]29== Requirements
30
[7987be8]31* Skype >= 1.4.0.99. The latest version I've tested is 2.0.0.68.
[36fbaa0]32* BitlBee >= 1.1.1dev. The latest version I've tested is 1.2.
[eb39102]33* Skype4Py >= 0.9.28.7. Previous versions won't work due to API changes.
[c60b864]34* Python >= 2.5. Skype4Py does not work with 2.4.
[e49da25]35* PyGObject >= 2.8.0. Older versions are part of PyGTK. (And you don't want to
36  install GTK for nothing, right?)
[b0d40f5]37* pyopenssl or python-gnutls.
[22d97b4]38
[df1a59d4]39`bitlbee-skype` has been tested under Linux and Mac OS X. Skype and Skype4py is
40available under Windows, too, so it probably works, but this has not been tested.
[760ed1f]41
[9e03e55]42== How to set it up
[afe221f]43
[751b149]44Before you start. The setup is the following: BitlBee can't connect directly to
45Skype servers (the company's ones). It needs a running Skype client to do so.
46In fact BitlBee will connect to `skyped` (a tcp server, provided in this
[4c3a4c8]47package) and `skyped` will connect to to your Skype client.
[751b149]48
[d0a6a8c]49The benefit of this architecture is that you can run Skype and `skyped`
50on a machine different to the one where you run BitlBee (it can be even
51a public server) and/or your IRC client.
[7e4f0ca1]52
[d0a6a8c]53NOTE: The order is important. First `skyped` starts Skype. Then `skyped`
54connects to Skype, finally BitlBee can connect to `skyped`.
55
56=== Installing under Frugalware
57
58- Install the necessary packages:
[11eed8f]59
[36fbaa0]60----
[5293707]61# pacman-g2 -S bitlbee-skype skype4py
[36fbaa0]62----
63
[4966d841]64and you don't have to compile anything manually.
65
[d0a6a8c]66=== Installing under Debian
67
68- Install the necessary development package:
[4966d841]69
70----
71# apt-get install bitlbee-dev
72----
73
[5293707]74and you have to install `bitlbee-skype` and `skype4py` from source.
[4966d841]75
[d0a6a8c]76=== Installing from source
77
78- You need the latest stable BitlBee release:
[afe221f]79
[0c60f96]80----
[36fbaa0]81$ wget http://get.bitlbee.org/src/bitlbee-1.2.tar.gz
82$ tar xf bitlbee-1.2.tar.gz
83$ cd bitlbee-1.2
[0c60f96]84----
[afe221f]85
[d044a5a]86NOTE: You no longer need additional patches, as of version 1.1.1dev.
[b8b0bfd]87
[afe221f]88- Now compile and install it:
89
[0c60f96]90----
[ccb50f5]91$ ./configure
92$ make
93# make install install-dev
[0c60f96]94----
[afe221f]95
96- Get the plugin code:
97
[0c60f96]98----
[3b495c0]99$ wget http://vmiklos.hu/project/bitlbee-skype/bitlbee-skype-@VERSION@.tar.gz
100$ tar xf bitlbee-skype-@VERSION@.tar.gz
101$ cd bitlbee-skype-@VERSION@
[0c60f96]102----
[afe221f]103
[3b495c0]104It doesn't matter where do you get it, it'll install the plugin to `/usr/local`
105by default (that's the location where BitlBee searches for plugins by default).
[6e97a7a]106
[afe221f]107- Compile and install it:
108
[0c60f96]109----
[ccb50f5]110$ ./configure
111$ make
112# make install
[0c60f96]113----
[afe221f]114
[5293707]115- To install http://skype4py.sourceforge.net/[Skype4Py] from source:
116
117----
118$ tar -zxvf Skype4Py-x.x.x.x.tar.gz
119$ cd Skype4Py-x.x.x.x
120# python setup.py install
121----
[c15f71a]122
[d0a6a8c]123=== Configuring
124
[52d377d]125- Edit `/usr/local/etc/skyped/skyped.conf`: adjust `username` and `password`. The
[e65ceaa]126  `username` should be your Skype login and the `password` can be whatever you
127  want, but you will have to specify that one when adding the Skype account to
128  BitlBee (see later).
129
[52d377d]130NOTE: Here, and later - `/usr/local/etc` can be different on your installation
131if you used the `--sysconfdir` switch when running bitlbee-skype's `configure`.
132
133- Generate the SSL pem files:
134
135----
[ccb50f5]136# cd /usr/local/etc/skyped
137# openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -nodes -config skyped.cnf -out skyped.cert.pem \
[52d377d]138        -keyout skyped.key.pem
139----
140
[ccb50f5]141NOTE: Maybe you want to adjust the permissions in the `/usr/local/etc/skyped`
142dir. For example make it readable by just your user.
143
[b0d40f5]144- If both pyopenssl and python-gnutls are available, then python-gnutls
145  will be used. This behaviour can be overwritten by:
146
147----
148$ export SKYPED_NO_GNUTLS=1
149----
150
[833eaee]151- Start `skyped` (the tcp server):
[afe221f]152
[0c60f96]153----
[ccb50f5]154$ skyped
[0c60f96]155----
[ba20c39]156
[4c3a4c8]157- Start your `IRC` client, connect to BitlBee and add your account:
[7338d59]158
159----
[789d055]160account add skype <user> <pass>
161account set skype/server localhost
[7338d59]162----
163
[e65ceaa]164<user> should be your Skype account name, <pass> should be the one you declared
[10a42d9]165in `skyped.conf`. If you want to run skyped on a remote machine, replace
166`localhost` with the name of the machine.
[7338d59]167
[9ace502]168If you are running skyped on a custom port:
169
170----
171account set skype/port <port>
172----
173
[7996794]174If you want to set your full name (optional):
175
176----
177account set skype/display_name "John Smith"
178----
179
180If you want to see your skypeout contacts online as well (they are
181offline by default):
182
183----
184account set skype/skypeout_offline false
185----
186
[23b84e1]187== Setting up Skype in a VNC server (optional)
188
189Optionally, if you want to run Skype on a server, you might want to setup up
[4c3a4c8]190a `VNC` server as well. I used `tightvnc` but probably other `VNC` servers will
[23b84e1]191work, too.
192
193First run
194
195----
[ccb50f5]196$ vncpasswd ~/.vnc/passwd
[23b84e1]197----
198
199and create a password. You will need it at least once.
200
201Now create `~/.vnc/xstartup` with the following contents:
202
203----
204#!/bin/sh
205
[2dbb768]206twm
[23b84e1]207----
208
[57087df]209Adjust the permissions:
210
211----
[ccb50f5]212$ chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup
[57087df]213----
214
[23b84e1]215Then start the server:
216
217----
[ccb50f5]218$ vncserver
[23b84e1]219----
220
[ece66da]221Then connect to it, start an `xterm`, set up Skype (username, password,
222enable X11 API and allow the `Skype4Py` client), quit from Skype, and
223start `skyped`. If you want to watch its traffic, enable debug messages
224and foreground mode:
[23b84e1]225
[ece66da]226----
227$ skyped -n -d
228----
[dffa24f]229
[123e45a]230== Features
[b6d26ac]231
[adce2de]232- Download nicks and away statuses from Skype
[b6d26ac]233
[39a0d64]234- Noticing joins / parts while we're connected
235
[93ece66]236- Sending messages
237
[8dd21bb]238- Receiving messages
239
[72f697b]240- Receiving away status changes
241
[62bb4e4]242- `skyped` (the tcp daemon that is a gateway between Skype and tcp)
[ed2e37f]243
[62bb4e4]244- Error handling when `skyped` is not running and when it exits
[afe221f]245
[62bb4e4]246- Marking received messages as seen so that Skype won't say there are unread messages
[440665b]247
[6627d92]248- Adding / removing contacts
249
[23411c6]250- Set away state when you do a `/away`.
251
[d3cbd17]252- When you `account off`, Skype will set status to `Offline`
[348a3a2]253
[d3cbd17]254- When you `account on`, Skype will set status to `Online`
[348a3a2]255
[d3cbd17]256- Detect when somebody wants to add you and ask for confirmation
[8dd21bb]257
[df9255d]258- Detect when somebody wants to transfer a file
259
[d6a371e]260- Group chat support:
261
262  * Detect if we're invited
263
264  * Send / receive group chat messages
[93ece66]265
[ff58445]266  * Invite others (using `/invite <nick>`)
[c5dd164]267
[d6a371e]268  * Part from group chats
[c5dd164]269
[ff58445]270  * Starting a group chat (using `/j #nick`)
271
[e103e73]272- Topic changes in group chats:
273
274  * Show the current topic (if any) on join
275
276  * Notice when someone changes the topic
277
278  * Support changing the topic using `/topic`
279
[fb36492]280- Viewing the profile using the `info` command.
281
[a06a0a5]282- Handling skype actions (when the `CHATMESSAGE` has `EMOTED` type)
283
[6b266f6]284- Setting your display name using the `nick` command.
[a06a0a5]285
[ccb50f5]286- Running Skype on a machine different to BitlBee is possible, the
287  communication is encrypted.
288
[9aed2f1]289- Managing outgoing calls (with call duration at the end, including
290  SkypeOut calls if you use a phone number instead of a nick):
[2eb4b1f]291
292  * `account set skype/call nick`
293  * `account set -del skype/call`
[123e45a]294
[e0074cb]295- Managing incoming calls via questions, just like when you add / remove
296  contacts.
[c5dd164]297
[9aed2f1]298- Querying the current SkypeOut balance:
299
300  * `account set skype/balance query`
301
[e0074cb]302== What needs to be done (aka. TODO)
[846ceffb]303
[d6a371e]304- Notice if foo invites bar. Currently you can see only that bar joined.
305
[6344674]306- Public chats. See
307  link:https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCL-381[this feature
308  request], this is because it is still not possible (under Linux) to
309  `join_chat` to a public chat..
[d6a371e]310
[3511d80]311- Add `--disable-skyped` and `--disable-plugin` switches in case one wants to
312  build `bitlbee-skype` only for a public server or only for use with a public
313  server.
[fdde7d8]314
[0c60f96]315== I would like to have support for ...
316
[23b84e1]317If something does not work and it's not in the TODO section, then please
[e72d869]318contact me! Please also try the link:HACKING[git version] before reporting a bug, your
[80d9004]319problem may be already fixed there.
[23b84e1]320
321In fact, of course, I wrote this documentation after figured out how to do this
322setup, so maybe I left out some steps. If you needed 'any' additional tricks,
323then it would be nice to include them here.
[afe221f]324
[f78f949]325== Known bugs
326
[5652d43]327- None at this time.
[f78f949]328
[0c60f96]329== Screenshots
330
[668a122]331You can reach some screenshots link:shot[here].
[ddd3502]332
[25d87e4]333== Additional resources
[a60c3c2]334
[25d87e4]335You can reach the Changelog link:Changelog[here], and a gitweb interface
[6f01885]336http://vmiklos.hu/gitweb/?p=bitlbee-skype.git[here].
[a60c3c2]337
[c09f90f]338The Skype API documentation is
339https://developer.skype.com/Docs/ApiDoc[here] if you're interested.
340
[ceee9c7]341
342== Testimonials
343
344----
34500:56 < scathe> vmiklos: I like your skype plugin :)
346----
347
[6774d83]348----
349It's really working great so far.
350
351Good Job and thank you!
352Sebastian
353----
354
[587a921]355----
356Big respect for your work, i really appreciate it.
357
358Martin
359----
360
[93264f0]361----
362Thanks for bitlbee-skype. As a blind Linux user, I cannot use the
363skype GUI client because qt apps ar not accessible yet with the
364available screen readers. bitlbee-skype allows me to make use of skype
365without having to interact much with the GUI client, which helps me a
366lot.
367
368Lukas
369----
370
[e3d0b10]371----
37202:12 < newton> i must say, i love this little bee ;)
37302:15 < newton> tried it out today with the skype plugin, good work!
374----
375
[65e4020]376== Thanks
377
378for the following people:
379
[e49da25]380* Wilmer van der Gaast, for answering questions about the BitlBee plugin interface
[65e4020]381
[56a3616]382* Arkadiusz Wahlig, author of skype4py, for making suggestions to skyped
[65e4020]383
[9834597]384* Gabor Adam Toth (tg), for noticing extra code is needed to handle multiline
385  messages
386
387* Cristobal Palmer (tarheelcoxn), for helping to testing the plugin in a
388  timezone different to mine
[65e4020]389
[4834307]390* Risko Gergely, for his SkypeOut ideas
391
[437ddf5]392* people on `#bitlbee` for feedback
393
[eb9cbb8]394Back to my link:/projects[projects page].
395
[0c60f96]396// vim: ft=asciidoc
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