How to Install Skype API Plugin for Pidgin in Ubuntu
Posted by admin on November 17th, 2008 
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Install Skype API Plugin for Pidgin in Ubuntu
First you need to download the plugin using the following command
wget http://eion.robbmob.com/skype4pidgin.deb
Now you should have skype4pidgin.deb package.Install this .deb package using the following command
sudo dpkg -i skype4pidgin.deb
or you can download the following libskype.so file to the plugins directory, normally /usr/lib/purple-2/ or ~/.purple/plugins
For 32 bit users download this
wget http://eion.robbmob.com/libskype.so
For 64 bit users download this
wget http://eion.robbmob.com/libskype64.so
This will complete the installation.After installation you need to restart Pidgin! You will then have a skype option enabled.
Screenshot
November 17th, 2008 at 12:28 am
i’ve always wanted webcam n voice call support in pidgin.will this enable both features?
November 17th, 2008 at 6:50 am
wow! I was just looking for that!
Thanks a lot.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Do you need skype to be running in the background in order for this plugin to work?
November 17th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Hi,
Quotation from http://eion.robbmob.com/README.txt :
Q: Does this plugin require Skype to be running?
A: Yes. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Q: Can you make a version that doesn’t need Skype?
A: Not possible right now.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I installed the plugin and I saw that I got two account types: Skype and Skype (DBus).
I configured the one with Skype and when ever I activate the account Skype client is started
(I have already installed skype) :/
After this I uninstalled both Skype and Pidgin and reinstalled Pidgin with the skype4pidgin plugin.
When I tried to start pidgin I got segmentation fault
I’m using Interpid, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic on Intel Core 2 Duo
November 17th, 2008 at 10:26 am
you have to run skype in the background. this plugin is only using the public skype api, but i like it! :p
November 17th, 2008 at 10:33 am
well actually when i am closing skype, pidgin disconnects me from skype account. So skype must be in background to enable to use pidginSkype plugin.. Or maybe my config. is bad. I am using Linux Mint Elyssa, skype 2.0.0.72 pidgin 2.4.1
November 17th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Before this plugin only worked if Skype was also running. And It didn’t had voice/video support.
Has this changed now?
Thanks.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Well I tried it and it worked as advertised, I then decided I don’t want skype on my machine
I then removed skype and the .so file from the /usr/lib/purple-2 folder.
When I restarted pidgin, the Skype and SkypeOut groups still exist…so I tried removing them and I can’t. I even went as far as removed them from the xml files under ~/.purple, still they come back
What can I do to remove the groups?
November 17th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
So what exactly is this plugin for if you still need Skype running?
November 18th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Pidgin keeps crashing (seg fault) every time I try to allow it to access Skype’s API….
November 18th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
just like AS said above, pidgin kept crashing…
it’s the same when i tried to add Faceboom contacts also
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:02 am
Google’s irony is that it became the giant it is now because of Free Software such as GNU/LInux; however, they will not release their VOIP service (Google Talk) to users of Ubuntu and other distributions. Skype, so far, has the lead on platform independence.
As long as Google ignores the Free Software community, Skype has nothing to fear.