Ability to see Skype contacts status

Unable to do this without a skype protocol account. Setting to beyond 1.0

Perhaps someone working for Gaim on one of their Summer of Code projects will do this :) The deadline is today (June 14th).

I think one of the biggest hassles with instant messaging is that it’s tied to the computer. If I’m away from the computer, like watching tv, I may miss an important IM. I can leave the speakers on the PC really loud, but then I’m always jumping up and running back to the PC to read an incoming IM in case it’s important. Most of the time it’s not. I can subscribe to a service with my cell phone—but that costs money. So here is (I think) the perfect solution, and a good GAIM plug-in that’s not too much work.

I just installed a Pluto Home system (plutohome.com). It’s a free, open source smarthome and media server. You put Bluetooth dongles on all the pc’s in your house, and then when you enter a room your Symbian Bluetooth phone turns into a remote control for everything in that room. It already tracks your movement—if you start listening to music in 1 room, your music will follow you as you move with your phone to another room. And it already sends messages to the phone based on events. For example, when the song changes, the cover art shown on my phone changes to show me what’s playing.

So that got me thinking… Why not make a GAIM plugin for pluto so that whenever I get an IM, I see it on my Bluetooth phone? That way I can either type a reply on the phone, or go back to the computer if I want to use the keyboard, or ignore it if it’s not important. And I’m not having to run back and forth to the computer to check IM. And it’s free since it uses Bluetooth! Plus, I think it’s such a real convenience it would be a great way to get people to switch to GAIM.

I talked to the programmers at Pluto and they said it would be really easy since their stuff is already written in small modules and plugins. However, since we’re all open source, we could also just take whatever pieces were useful and do something completely new using the same concept.

Many of the other GAIM projects listed are either specific for only some users (like Apple iChat), or would only be used by geeks (like the Perl interpreter). But not having to run back and forth to the computer is something everybody wants (imho). I don’t see how to recommend a new idea for GAIM, so I’ll just try the forums and hope somebody else likes it too.

Now that the APIs for Skype on OSX are available, it is at least possible to implement the buddy list and the controls into Adium. You'd still have to have Skype installed though. Better than nothing I guess. http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=32933

skype support would be fantastic!

Taken Skype's website

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Introducing SkypeNet API

Wouldn’t it be cool if your friends using other IM applications could contact you on Skype? We want Skype to be the worlds largest open IM system on the planet! What if you could use Skype to communicate with a product reviewer on a Web site, to chat with other players in an online game using Skype? All of these things and a few more that we haven’t dreamed up yet will become possiblities with SkypeNet API, a new set of tools and services that programmers can use to take Skype into new places that you may have never dreamed of before.

SkypeNet API will enable developers to access our IM and Presence system and bring it into new applications without needing to have the full version of Skype running on the machine. Think of it as mini Skype that can bring Skype to new places and let you do things you couldn’t do before. Details on the SkypeNet API will be coming soon, but we want to start the fun now. Interested in getting on board with SkypeNet now and just can’t wait until we publish more?

Contact us at skypenet@skype.com

---

i agree...it will be a very popular feature and with an api not impossible to implement... Continue your great work! Thanks Guys...

The open source IM Miranda for windows has created skype's plugins, it might be interesting to look at the code as the licence is GPL. Links: http://share.skype.com/directory/skype_plugin_for_miranda_im/view/ http://miranda-im.org/download/details.php?action=viewfile&id=1570 http://miranda-im.org/download/details.php?action=viewfile&id=1562 http://miranda-im.org/download/details.php?action=viewfile&id=2074

another voice asking for Skype support...

Is it possible that perhaps that it would be possible to add a button to Adium (with Skype application open) where I can click a button on my contact list or whatever and it will automatically call on Skype? It has to be possible since you can do that from within the Address Book.

Skype integration would be really lovely

Im maybe not the best programmer in the world but i will definately take a look at this.

If you integrate skype, I'll support project by 100 USD and the developer who integrated it by another 300 USD.

Mayor, please offer contact information to go with your offer so an interested programmer could potentially take you up on that :)

Well, after searching on Google and reading all this, I just must make another entry to reinforce the wish to have a Skype account installed on Adium, for at least to be able to see within Adium Contact List who's online in skype network. We know you can do it... ;)

Keep up tha good work, we love ya!

I second (or third or twenty-fifth) this request.... too many people i know are only on skype, and it not fun trying to keep both adium and skype up on my screen. Any progress on this? it would be hugely appreciated. I could second Mayor's offer to contribute to this feature. (contact for me can be found on http://www.salesbuilderonline.com to avoid spambots)

I would love to see skype in adium! chat only ;o)

This would be some amazingly great!

Pleasssssssssse

Me too, why has this been moved to "waiting on libgaim"?

Because we don't have the resources available to do this ourselves (we're a small team with limited time), and people on the Gaim project have at least expressed some interest in doing this.

Would you rather we close the ticket?

I agree. At the very least, skype chat through adium is needed. The ability to only see who else is online via skype would be pretty useless in of itself because you'd still have to launch skype to chat with them.

So Please, introduce skype useability with Adium. I don't wnt both skype and adium open all the time, and would prefer adium on it's own.

Cheers

It's been a while since any posting here, and being new to Adium and Skype, I'd love to know if any progress has been made. In somed duplicate but recent tickets, it was stated that it's not possible. Is that really so? Why? And how much WOULD be possible in terms os Skype integration?

I'll follow up on Mayor's and Olivier's offers to contribute to this ($100 for the Adium project and $400 for the developer). Combined, there should be over $1000 in the pot for the developer. I guarantee to honor this if it is done in a reasonable timeframe (Q1 2007?) At least some feedback on possibilities would be great.

I will keep looking into this ticket to check up on interested parties and/or other progress. Btw, Adium is *great*. If it would support Skype to the best possible degree, it would be the one and only IM app on my Mac.

I will add $1,000 for the developers to this if Skype (No Voice or Video necessary, just IM) is implemented in Adium before January 1st, 2008.

I think that the significant bounty on this is sufficient to push the priority up to help it get noticed. :)

Any objections to creating a wiki page which lista and links to all tickets offering bounties?

+1

I've recently switched to Adium and managed to consolidate all of my different IM accounts under a single client. Well, all but my Skype account. Basic Skype chat support would be the killer feature. Hope to see some development in this direction soon.

Replying to irabinovitch:

Any objections to creating a wiki page which lista and links to all tickets offering bounties?

That's a good idea. I've created Bounties with an initial listing of bounty tickets and a second draft of rules for handling bounties.

I'm working on a plugin for libpurple at the moment. It's not an implementation of the Skype protocol, but uses the Skype API to communicate with a running Skype. Will this still satisfy the terms of the bounty?

Replying to BigBrownChunx:

I'm working on a plugin for libpurple at the moment. It's not an implementation of the Skype protocol, but uses the Skype API to communicate with a running Skype. Will this still satisfy the terms of the bounty?

Yes, as long as I can add my Skype account to Adium and am able to IM with other Skype users.

this means, i have to start skype to see my skype contacts in adium and to chat with them, right? if that is possible without recieving double messages in skype and adium, that would be nice!

Replying to silverbeat:

this means, i have to start skype to see my skype contacts in adium and to chat with them, right? if that is possible without recieving double messages in skype and adium, that would be nice!

Hmm.. I did not realize I had to have Skype installed and even started. This is not what I had in mind. I don't want to have Skype started to be able to use skype IM's in Adium. Ii don't even think I want it to be installed.

Replying to patrickmast:

Hmm.. I did not realize I had to have Skype installed and even started. This is not what I had in mind. I don't want to have Skype started to be able to use skype IM's in Adium. Ii don't even think I want it to be installed.

Considering that the Skype protocol is un-crackable (unless you can break a 2048-bit key encryption), that no other IM can implement it and that SkypeNet hasn't been released, its the best that can happen at the moment.

Skype look like they plan to allow communication without Skype running (it's on their roadmap), but they've promised it for a long time. Don't get your hopes up :)

I have a plugin working on Linux and Windows, and I plan to work with an OSX friend to port it to Adium too. I'll write back with updates.

Any Skype user's status can be accessed through http://mystatus.skype.com/mediumicon/<username> if (s)he enabled web status. Just display this image in the buddy list and refresh it about every 30 seconds. A doubbleclick on that image could open skype:<username>?userinfo

That would start Skype and open a windows from where you can choose to either AV chat with him, write a text message or just quit is.

I know that hardly the optimal solution but it should be quite easy to implant and Skype doesn't need to run in the background all the time.

Replying to BigBrownChunx:

I have a plugin working on Linux and Windows, and I plan to work with an OSX friend to port it to Adium too. I'll write back with updates.

The Linux and Windows libpurple plugin is very stable, and I'm in the process of converting it to OSX. From the looks of it, I have to create an Adium plugin to do this? I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to add it as a protocol to the libpurple bit in Adium by copying what is there for the MySpaceIM protocol (since that's pretty new too), but all I've managed to do is get Adium to crash. I'll get there though.

If anyone has some helpful suggestions wrt porting, I'd be happy to hear them :)

Good news!

I've managed to get my Skype contacts into Adium. They just aren't showing their usernames yet, which is a little werid. http://tinyurl.com/2x2rd5

Another couple of screenshots so far: http://tinyurl.com/yqnt5t and http://tinyurl.com/2hcd6v

Slow progress but it's getting there :)

Replying to BigBrownChunx:

I've managed to get my Skype contacts into Adium. They just aren't showing their usernames yet, which is a little werid. http://tinyurl.com/2x2rd5

I think I've seen that behavior if your contact list is supposed to be showing user icons or service icons and no service icon is specified by the AIService subclass. That help?

Replying to evands:

I think I've seen that behavior if your contact list is supposed to be showing user icons or service icons and no service icon is specified by the AIService subclass. That help?

Thanks for that, it was indeed the user icons. I've updated the pic at http://tinyurl.com/2x2rd5 to show it now. There's another pic of me messaging at http://tinyurl.com/2xodes

Now I just have to package it up into a Plugin for everyone. :)

Replying to BigBrownChunx:

Replying to evands:

I think I've seen that behavior if your contact list is supposed to be showing user icons or service icons and no service icon is specified by the AIService subclass. That help?

Thanks for that, it was indeed the user icons. I've updated the pic at http://tinyurl.com/2x2rd5 to show it now. There's another pic of me messaging at http://tinyurl.com/2xodes Now I just have to package it up into a Plugin for everyone. :)

Have you released this as a plugin yet? :)

Replying to Gary King:

Have you released this as a plugin yet? :)

The short answer is 'yes', the long answer is 'no'. Yes, the plugin is all ready to go. No, I can't release it. There are two problems, and they're both to do with the Skype.Framework. First, its not that simple to install as Skype.Framework needs to be copied to /Library/Frameworks/ which requires sudo, so wouldn't be able to be installed like any other plugin. Second, it may not be legal to use Skype.Framework (closed-source library) in a GPL-licenced project.

I'm currently in talks with both Skype and the FSF regarding these two points, but at the same time I'm sidetracking the issue by reverse-engineering the Skype.Framework file. For those interested, it looks like it uses a CFNotificationCenter to send messages, and I'm half way through working out what it's sending/receiving. I'm not really a Mac programmer though, so progress is going slower than I had hoped.

Replying to BigBrownChunx:

Skype.Framework needs to be copied to /Library/Frameworks/ which requires sudo, so wouldn't be able to be installed like any other plugin.

No, you should not be installing the framework. Use install_name to change the executable name for the binary inside the framework to @bundle_path/../Frameworks

Replying to evands:

No, you should not be installing the framework. Use install_name to change the executable name for the binary inside the framework to @bundle_path/../Frameworks

Unfortunatly the Skype.Framework is closed source and hardwired to use @executable_path, hence the reverse-engineering :)

Replying to BigBrownChunx:

Replying to evands:

No, you should not be installing the framework. Use install_name to change the executable name for the binary inside the framework to @bundle_path/../Frameworks

Unfortunatly the Skype.Framework is closed source and hardwired to use @executable_path, hence the reverse-engineering :)

Can't be.

Actual command is:

install_name_tool -id "@bundle_path/../Frameworks/Skype.framework/Versions/A/Skype" Skype.framework/Skype 

I tried the install_name_tool command but it made no difference. It seems that the plugin is trying to load Skype.framework using @executable_path. Since I don't know where to change this in XCode, I've put the plugin and source at http://myjobspace.co.nz/images/pidgin/

I'm told the XCodeProject file is a horrible mess, and to install the plugin (at this stage) Skype.framework needs to be in /System/Library/, and glib needs to be installed in /usr/local/lib. I suck at OSX programming and I'm just blindly stumbling through making the plugin work in Adium :) It's a lot easier making plugins for libpurple, I have to say. The Adium plugin uses the same base code as the libpurple plugin, so bringing through updates from the libpurple plugin is really easy.

Either way, there's the (evil & buggy) plugin, and source. Go try it out. It seems to work ok for the people who have been testing it so far.

Ok, The plugin is pretty stable for Adium now. It doesn't need dependencies installed anywhere anymore, but at the moment its only working on 10.4, 10.5.

Thanks for the install_name_tool pointer btw.... I ended up having to use @loader_path (which is >=10.4 only) instead of @executable/@bundle_path

As mentioned above, you can grab it from http://myjobspace.co.nz/images/pidgin/

I have downloaded the plugin for testing and can't login into skype. Everytime I try to connect, Adium shows the connecting-icon in the dock and hangs up. Skype is running in the background without being connected, Adium has asked to use the API and I have allowed this. I use 10.4.10 on a 13" MacBook, Adium X 1.1.2, and Skype 2.6.0.151.

Replying to silverbeat:

I believe it requires you to be connected in skype so that adium has the info to pull from.

whoops

I tried the plugin and it seems to work fine here, thanks! Some issues I noticed (not listed in the readme file):

• it's not clear whether the real status (away/busy/available) corresponds to the one set in Skype or the one specified by Adium. Changing status in Adium doesn't affect skype and viceversa.
• The list of contacts retrieved by the plugin includes SkypeOut contacts: since there is no VoIP support in the plugin these contacts are useless and you may want to hide them.

Replying to DarTar:

* it's not clear whether the real status (away/busy/available) corresponds to the one set in Skype or the one specified by Adium. Changing status in Adium doesn't affect skype and viceversa.

This is a bug in the API, that seems to only be fixed in the Windows version of Skype. The status is definatly being updated, but the changes aren't being refected in the Skype client. I havn't yet looked for the libpurple functions for changing the status when Skype changes. I'll add it to the list of known issues.

* The list of contacts retrieved by the plugin includes SkypeOut contacts: since there is no VoIP support in the plugin these contacts are useless and you may want to hide them.

Not sure if it's a good idea to get rid of them. You can still call contacts by right-clicking/ctrl-clicking on the contact and choosing "Call...". Also, the SkypeOut people dont show if you have Offline contacts turned off.

As has been endlessly discussed on the pidgin mailing list for months, any such plugin that links against the Skype API is probably a violation of the GPL. It is also clear that Skype does not want people snooping on their protocol and has taken extraordinary efforts to prevent reverse engineering of their protocol.

WONTFIXing this because we won't ship a Skype API-based plugin (and wouldn't want a 3rd party one released), and the possibility of a legal RE of Skype's protocol is almost nil.

Thems the breaks, folks :( (someone should update our skype page to state this?)

Replying to cbarrett:

As has been endlessly discussed on the pidgin mailing list for months, any such plugin that links against the Skype API is probably a violation of the GPL. It is also clear that Skype does not want people snooping on their protocol and has taken extraordinary efforts to prevent reverse engineering of their protocol. WONTFIXing this because we won't ship a Skype API-based plugin (and wouldn't want a 3rd party one released), and the possibility of a legal RE of Skype's protocol is almost nil. Thems the breaks, folks :( (someone should update our skype page to state this?)

A bit premature about the legal stuff. I have been in talks with the FSF about this:

Eion,

Thanks for sending those details about the Skype API. After reviewing them, I think you've already got the right idea: since Skype uses standard message-passing mechanisms on Windows and GNU/Linux systems, and its interaction with client programs is relatively high-level (i.e., there aren't entire data structures being passed between them), I see no reason to believe that your client software is derived from Skype. And if that's the case, there's no legal obstacle to writing a Skype client with GPLed software. Your plugin should be GPLed, of course, since it's derived from Pidgin, but the GPL does not prohibit this sort of arms'-length communication with proprietary software.

I hope this provides the sort of guidance you were looking for. If you have other questions or concerns, please let me know.

Best regards,

-- Brett Smith Licensing Compliance Engineer, Free Software Foundation

Please note that I am not an attorney. This is not legal advice.

Replying to cbarrett:

As has been endlessly discussed on the pidgin mailing list for months

One more thing. Yes it has been discussed on the pidgin list for 'months', however there was no clear conclusion regarding whether it was legal or not. Your comments seems to make out that there was a conclusion, and that it wasn't legal.

Since there's hasn't been any definate legal yes or no from anyone, you should probably open the enhancement back.

Indeed. I'd also prefer to leave this on 'third party plugins' rather than 'waiting on libpurple'. I don't think we could actually ship a Skype plugin depending upon Skype.framework with Adium, nor would we want to (we should advocate for open solutions wherever possible, and voice/video over XMPP for example fits the bill), but I don't see a strong barrier at present to allowing discussion to continue in this ticket with a possible eventual solution of a released, stable plugin by a third party.

The fact that a third party plugin might be a .AdiumLibpurplePlugin doesn't change its nature to awaiting implementation upstream.

Replying to evands:

I don't think we could actually ship a Skype plugin depending upon Skype.framework with Adium, nor would we want to

I've managed to remove the Skype.framework dependency and made my own open-source version that's a drop-in replacement for the Carbon functions. It's not quite as refined/stable as Skype.framework, but they've been working on that for months/years and I only had a weekend.

In other news...
The latest version of the plugin is available from http://myjobspace.co.nz/images/pidgin and has all the features of the Windows and Linux versions ported over, is a lot more stable since the last version, and is now legal and GPL friendly (no closed-source, non-os dependencies)

Is the plugin at a state that would satisfy the terms of the bounty?

Replying to BigBrownChunx:

Replying to evands:

I don't think we could actually ship a Skype plugin depending upon Skype.framework with Adium, nor would we want to

I've managed to remove the Skype.framework dependency and made my own open-source version that's a drop-in replacement for the Carbon functions. It's not quite as refined/stable as Skype.framework, but they've been working on that for months/years and I only had a weekend. In other news...
The latest version of the plugin is available from http://myjobspace.co.nz/images/pidgin and has all the features of the Windows and Linux versions ported over, is a lot more stable since the last version, and is now legal and GPL friendly (no closed-source, non-os dependencies) Is the plugin at a state that would satisfy the terms of the bounty?

Thank you for your great job! I installed the plugin and it works great!. It seems to me that this satisfies the terms of the bounty for me yes. What's the groups idea?

BTW, question: Now that I also see my Skype IM's in my list, I have several "Doubles" in the list. People who are connected via several IM's at the same time. For example, Jan is in my list with his Skype, MSN and ICQ account. Is there a way to OR group Jan's contacts as one OR hide the 2 less important ones and thus see only his Skype account in the list?

Thanks again for the Skype plugin and Congrats! ;-)

Patrick

Which group are the Skype contacts supposed to appear in? I'm not seeing my Skype contacts.

Replying to patrickmast:

Thank you for your great job! I installed the plugin and it works great!. It seems to me that this satisfies the terms of the bounty for me yes. What's the groups idea?

The groups idea? Not 100% sure what you mean. The only thing to do with groups is that at the moment any custom groups you make on Skype aren't brought through. All contacts just end up in the 'Skype' group in Adium at present.

BTW, question: Now that I also see my Skype IM's in my list, I have several "Doubles" in the list. People who are connected via several IM's at the same time. For example, Jan is in my list with his Skype, MSN and ICQ account. Is there a way to OR group Jan's contacts as one OR hide the 2 less important ones and thus see only his Skype account in the list?

Adium has the grouping functionality built in. If you drag a contact and drop it on another contact, you get asked if you want to merge the two together. Very handy.

Thanks again for the Skype plugin and Congrats! ;-)

Thank you for using it and giving it a try. :)

Replying to Gary King:

Which group are the Skype contacts supposed to appear in? I'm not seeing my Skype contacts.

They should be in the 'Skype' group. You'll need to add Skype as an account in Adium though.

Replying to BigBrownChunx:

Replying to Gary King:

Which group are the Skype contacts supposed to appear in? I'm not seeing my Skype contacts.

They should be in the 'Skype' group. You'll need to add Skype as an account in Adium though.

Thanks, that did it.

This looks like a good proof-of-concept more than anything else. It still needs some polishing, such as not showing SkypeOut contacts. Also, I was not aware that I needed Skype to be running in order to get this to work. This will not be an option for me, since the reason I wanted this was so I didn't have to have Skype running, although I'm sure it won't bother many others since many people have Skype running most of the time, anyways.

Replying to Gary King:

This looks like a good proof-of-concept more than anything else.

Proof-of-concept? No, its the real deal... it just has a couple of bugs. :)

It still needs some polishing, such as not showing SkypeOut contacts.

The SkypeOut contacts is an optional thing that you can change in the Account options screen (at least it does in Pidgin, have to check in Adium tbh). More people want SkypeOut contacts to show than not aparently.

Also, I was not aware that I needed Skype to be running in order to get this to work. This will not be an option for me, since the reason I wanted this was so I didn't have to have Skype running, although I'm sure it won't bother many others since many people have Skype running most of the time, anyways.

I admit, it's not the ideal/perfect situation butince it's not likely that Skype will ever have their protocol opened or reverse-engineered in our lifetime, this is better than nothing, right?

Thank you very much for this plugin! I have followed the development. Now it works and it fulfills my needs.

Only two more things would really be convenient. First, when I set the Skype account to auto-login in Adium, it does not connect when starting Adium. And second, it would really be nice if Adium could be able to start Skype automatically when using the Skype-plugin. Do you think this would be possible?

Mucho thanks from me as well. This plugin is great!

Few issues though:

- I can't get Adium to connect to Skype on startup. The relevant checkbox is clicked. After startup I have to first deactivate and then reactivate the Skype account to see my Skype contacts.

- When I activate the Skype account through Adium, the Skype application window is minimized. Though cosmetic, this really bugs me, as I rarely minimize windows. It would be great if this behavior were at least user-configurable.

Wow, just found this discussion and the plugin. It works pretty well for me. I presume that the programmer has had his bounty paid out? Or if not, I should pay him a donation directly as I will use this heaps.

I've been using the plugin for a couple of days now and noticed that not all messages from my chat partner appear in the Adium chat window. I'm using Adium X 1.1.4 and Skype 2.6.0.182.

Replying to he-sk:

I've been using the plugin for a couple of days now and noticed that not all messages from my chat partner appear in the Adium chat window. I'm using Adium X 1.1.4 and Skype 2.6.0.182.

You'll want to grab the latest version (dated 2 Dec) which fixes the missing messages bug.

Replying to BigBrownChunx:

You'll want to grab the latest version (dated 2 Dec) which fixes the missing messages bug.

I tried that version today. It seems that all messages appear in the Adium chat window, but not in the Skype chat window. So something is still funky.

I have upgraded to the latest version today (before I was using the first version). Since then, my Adium crashes everytime I disconnect from the Adium-Skype account. Everything else works fine, the new minimize and autologin features are great.

(I use OS 10.4.11 and Adium 1.1.4)

The Plug-in is available here, so there's no need of keeping this open.

Out of curiosity, did any of the third-party bounties in this ticket ever pay out?

Replying to evands:

Out of curiosity, did any of the third-party bounties in this ticket ever pay out?

No, I havn't recieved anything.