MX Linux Forum

I have not used any kind of video conferencing software for many years and I was wondering what people have had success with recently.

Factors I find important when choosing a video conferencing solution:
- Have end-to-end encryption
- Be usable both on MX Linux as well as M$ Windbloz (my family has not converted yet)
- Be fairly easy to configure and get running
I have a some computer knowledge while my parents, ..well not so much.
- A solution for either desktop and/or laptop as we're trying to do this at home (not via cell phone)

I initially installed Linphone but could not figure out how to place a call.
I liked the idea of Jitsi but received a message stating that I need to use Chrome or Chromium to use their website. I am not a fan of Google, so I'm passing on this one.

Currently, I am looking into trying Tox but heard there's no longer support for this program...
I heard using Signal requires a phone connection even for a desktop video conference.
I heard of Zoom having encryption issues as of late, so that does not appeal to me.

So any and all suggestions or success stories would be greatly appreciated.

Zoom. Installed and tried it for the first time about a week ago, worked like a peach.

I am not looking for a lot of hoopla.. I just need it to work.

Eadwine Rose wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:15 pm Zoom. Installed and tried it for the first time about a week ago, worked like a peach.

I am not looking for a lot of hoopla.. I just need it to work.

Where did you find Zoom.

I saw some Zoom stuff in the repo and in Mozilla extensions but it didn't appear to be what I needed or perhaps I don't understand what I'm seeing.


Thanks

Zoom is in the Package Installer, Test tab.

It's extraordinarily easy to use, and my family has very much appreciated the software as we conduct a weekly "happy hour" with 9 people that is very comforting. I'm also impressed at the technical ability to handle so much data without a hitch.

Hello Jerry3904,

Ok I found it after going into the MX Package Installer and typing it into the search bar.

My Apologies I'm old and not sharp sometimes.


Thanks for the reply.

No apologies necessary, I just hope you like it as much as we do.

Hello Jerry 3904,

Thanks.

The Wife is the one who will be using Zoom in a few days and I'm sure it will be OK and she's familiar with using it.


Thanks again for the help.

There is also Skype.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thever ... zoom-video

I've used mainly zoom and Skype these past few weeks. Both work fine with mx19 using the installed software packages.

Did some tests with jitsi on browser, since I don't mind using Chrome for that. If people don't have an issue with chromium based browsers , jitsi is great and easy to use. Starting a meeting and sending the invites is easy. But if people want to share screens or docs from mobile device, it's out as their mobile apps don't have that ability.

For some reason Zoom works better for me on MX19 than it does on Windows or on Arch (Artix). I don't know why, but on the others I get choppy video and audio, but on MX19 it's very smooth.

The Wife complains about Zoom being choppy and stutters on her Windows 10 laptop and wants to try it out on my MX-19 desktop and who knows perhaps she may move over to Linux although I doubt it.

Hello D800,

we use jitsi.

Jitsi is an open source software that enables video conferences with one or more participants. The special thing: No account is necessary to use jitsi, only a web browser (which supports WebRTC) or the app for Android or iOS. Privacy-sensitive users can also find the Jitsi-Meet app in the F-Droid store.

Jitsi then runs on instances. For privacy reasons please only select instances that work without Google STUN / Turn server and hosted servers at Amazon, Google, Cloudflare or Microsoft. A list of instances can be found here.

D800 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:14 pm
I liked the idea of Jitsi but received a message stating that I need to use Chrome or Chromium to use their website. I am not a fan of Google, so I'm passing on this one.

To use jitsi you need a browser that supports WebRTC. Firefox can do this too. With Firefox there should be more problems than with Chromium. So far jitsi has always worked without problems with Firefox.

A quick guide (but in German) can be found here.

Greetings from Germany and stay healthy

---

asqwerth wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:33 pm :
Did some tests with jitsi meet on browser, since I don't mind using Chrome for that.
If people don't have an issue with chromium based browsers , jitsi meet is great and easy to use.
Starting a meeting and sending the invites is easy.

To jump on, all you need is an agreed upon url, and optional password, and you're off!

• Chromium-based browsers have the most complete support of features, best performance, and the least impact on the rest of the connected.
• Firefox seems to work for the most part, but the menus on the Mic & Cam icons are not active, and screen sharing was sometimes flakey, not working between Firefox nodes but strangely, only in one direction. I also saw mention of load impacts on the other participants when Firefox nodes were present.
• Safari was audio-only.

---

asqwerth wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:33 pm :
But if people want to share screens or docs from mobile device, it's out as their mobile apps don't have that ability.

I was testing with my sister. on her android tablet, upon discovering that the app didn't have all the features of the browser version, we circumvented the app by bringing up the link in the chrome browser and when it suggested loading or jumping to the app, she instead long-pressed the vertical 3-dot menu on the right side of the url bar and requested the desktop version of the page from the drop-down menu.
We didn't test extensively, leaving that for another day, but were able to adjust the video quality (LD/SD/HD/AUD) whereas
the app only had AUD/VID. Also missing in the app, were tile-mode (view mode) toggle, and the Info icon for displaying the link info was missing info.

• Tip for mobile devices: Try the desktop version of the web page.

D800 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:14 pm I heard of Zoom having encryption issues

Zoom likes to advertise it's "encryption" features but it only offers TLS encryption rather then end-to-end so the host can record & view any conversations.

See also https://theintercept.com/2020/03/31/zoo ... ncryption/

Jitsi offers full end-to-end encryption and works with Firefox but the support isn't as good as for Chrom{e,ium} (as m_frank notes).

EDIT: Jitsi also offers .deb packages from a custom repository: https://download.jitsi.org/stable/

Instructions on the downloads page.

I confirm that jitsi meet works OK with Firefox on MX18.

wahnsinn wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 12:46 am Hello D800,

we use jitsi.

Jitsi is an open source software that enables video conferences with one or more participants.
...

Hi,
Yes Jitsi-meet is promising, actually I mostly use zoom.us and skype. Zoom is on the air with the coronavirus ;-)

Jitsi is an amazing free service. But unless I'm missing something, the weakness I see is that with no ability to create an account, ownership of the room cannot be persistent. So someone could set up a room of the same name and commandeer the meeting the next time. For many people this limitation will not be a problem, but for some it will be critical. IIUC, to create accounts one must upgrade to 8x8, the company that foots the bills for Jitsi, which is pay.

paul1149 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:23 am Jitsi is an amazing free service.

But unless I'm missing something, the weakness I see is that with no ability to create an account, ownership of the room cannot be persistent. So someone could set up a room of the same name and commandeer the meeting the next time.
:

---

Well, you can set a password to keep out the "public", but you would have to maintain at least one connection to preserve your hold on the particular meet namespace on the instance.

You can also pick up and move to an alternative Instance, see: Jitsi Meet Instances

Or, you could set up your own Jitsi-Meet instance and add access controls.

Signed up to 8x8 for free, and it works:- But can only login as guest.

GuiGuy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:53 am Signed up to 8x8 for free, and it works:-
8x8.png
But can only login as guest.

It's good that 8x8 has a free plan. But if you're only a guest you lose persistence, right?I signed up but now cannot figure out how to actually access the room. "Start" does not take me there. Strange.

paul1149 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 1:38 pm ...........
[
It's good that 8x8 has a free plan. But if you're only a guest you lose persistence, right?I signed up but now cannot figure out how to actually access the room. "Start" does not take me there. Strange.

"Start" will work if you first put something into the "enter meeting name" box.

However it's all a bit pointless because you end up with something no better than the plain jitsi meet.

GuiGuy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 5:06 pm "Start" will work if you first put something into the "enter meeting name" box.

However it's all a bit pointless because you end up with something no better than the plain jitsi meet.

Yes, as a Guest 8x8 is exactly like Jitsi, which isn't bad but which has the weakness I cited. But logged into my 8x8 account, the meeting room does not manifest and the browser never requests hardware permissions. I tried getting answers and just got more lost. I'm going to use Jitsi as it is for now.

paul1149 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 5:18 pm ...........
I'm going to use Jitsi as it is for now.

Same here - will just use a weird meeting name which no-one is likely to guess.

I don't normally post on MX Linux forum anymore, and I apologize is this isn't helpful, but you can now use Skype video conferencing in Google Chrome with no downloads, no signups, no installs.
You just use this link to generate a URL and invite your friends.

https://www.skype.com/en/free-conference-call/

There are additional tricks to using your android/iphone camera if you lack one on your desktop.

The trouble with Skype is it no longer works on 32bit systems.

Bartman wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:52 pm The Wife complains about Zoom being choppy and stutters on her Windows 10 laptop and wants to try it out on my MX-19 desktop and who knows perhaps she may move over to Linux although I doubt it.

Zoom on MX-19 Linux is a winner and works better on Linux then Windows 10 according to the wife.

The wife is now wanting her own Linux laptop WOW I'm still in shock.

Fortunately I have a few unused laptops that I can install Linux on and see how this new adventure works out.


Life is good.

I had success earlier today on a video call with my brother using Linphone. He was using his Android cell phone for video, but it worked. It was a little pixelated but the motion of the video was smooth and fast.
I used an older Logitech Quickcam Pro 5000. He said the video of me was decent quality. So overall I am pretty pleased.
We're going to try later with him using his laptop's built in webcam, and also see if we can get our father joined in the same video conference.

Bartman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:12 am

Bartman wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:52 pm The Wife complains about Zoom being choppy and stutters on her Windows 10 laptop and wants to try it out on my MX-19 desktop and who knows perhaps she may move over to Linux although I doubt it.

Zoom on MX-19 Linux is a winner and works better on Linux then Windows 10 according to the wife.

The wife is now wanting her own Linux laptop WOW I'm still in shock.

Fortunately I have a few unused laptops that I can install Linux on and see how this new adventure works out.


Life is good.

My cousin doesn't know what Linux is but was desperate for a working computer to go to her work zoom meetings on, as her Windows laptop gives choppy video and audio. I gave her a 9-year old Samsung laptop from my aging hardware collection and put MX19 and zoom on it, she's completely happy with it.

Have had no need for conferencing myself but elder daughter who lives in here in New Zealand with a job based in England
does use it frequently. Skype is fine for one to one, and they use Zoom - sometimes with more than 14 participants for the group
work. Initial audio problems were fixed by having only a few microphone channels open at a time. One person controls the
meetings and calls others in to speak as appropriate.

IMHO Zoom looks like a copy of Jitsi Meet with a few "enhancements".
If so, are they violating the Apache licence?

GuiGuy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 19, 2020 1:36 pm IMHO Zoom looks like a copy of Jitsi Meet with a few "enhancements".
If so, are they violating the Apache licence?

Right, the look is almost similar, but the use and the ergonomy is userfriendly.

oops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 19, 2020 2:19 pm Right, the look is almost similar, but the use and the ergonomy is userfriendly.

It's not friendly for me - requires lots of user actions to get it working - jitsi meet works straight away in Firefox.
But I guess it's just down to individual tastes .

GuiGuy wrote: ↑Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:07 am

oops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 19, 2020 2:19 pm Right, the look is almost similar, but the use and the ergonomy is userfriendly.

It's not friendly for me - requires lots of user actions to get it working - jitsi meet works straight away in Firefox.
But I guess it's just down to individual tastes .

... Userfriendly (for the moment) with multiplatforms (windows, android, linux, Macos, ...) without a web browser ... and needs less ressources (CPU) and easy to install with only on file.deb (and dependencies).

But you are right, Jitsi-Meet is promising .

@oops : the more I hear about zoom, the more I want to stay away from it

@cyrillus31: Merci pour l'info. (Thanks for the information)

I continue to not be concerned about Zoom's security problems for my uses, especially since none of my family is going to move to jitsi-meet.

@Jerry3909 "...especially since none of my family is going to move to jitsi-meet."

Yes, the key word.

andyprough wrote: ↑Sun Apr 19, 2020 12:44 am

Bartman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:12 am

Bartman wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:52 pm The Wife complains about Zoom being choppy and stutters on her Windows 10 laptop and wants to try it out on my MX-19 desktop and who knows perhaps she may move over to Linux although I doubt it.

Zoom on MX-19 Linux is a winner and works better on Linux then Windows 10 according to the wife.

The wife is now wanting her own Linux laptop WOW I'm still in shock.

Fortunately I have a few unused laptops that I can install Linux on and see how this new adventure works out.


Life is good.

My cousin doesn't know what Linux is but was desperate for a working computer to go to her work zoom meetings on, as her Windows laptop gives choppy video and audio. I gave her a 9-year old Samsung laptop from my aging hardware collection and put MX19 and zoom on it, she's completely happy with it.

I tried several times to get the Wife to give Linux a try and failed and all it took was the social media thing (Zoom) for her to discover she could enjoy Linux.

I'm still shocked and amazed.

I got the Zoom package *.deb for Debian before realising I could get it in Synaptic. It's working fine all the same having had three group meetings. Thunderbird meeting URLs load Firefox which then loads Zoom, although I believe I can set 'Always' in there to streamline things. It plays well with others so far.

The desktop sharing works fine although compacts the participant window. Zoom mutes the mic and video on entering a meeting here so just needs to be allowed by the user. This seems to take new users a moment to register and click appropriately.

I'm using an external camera for video and audio input, while using hearing aids connected to a lead from the headphone socket (via my bluetooth accessory) for sound, effectively giving me earbuds, while avoiding any feedback or echo. Headphones of some sort are my recommendation in any case.

The only downside for me on a pre-paid mobile data plan (tether/wifi to PC) is that Zoom does seem to chew through a lot of data, 500MB or so per 45 mins, at a rough estimate here.

Everything runs quite smoothly, except when I checked an incoming text ('Your data is below...'), the mobile itself seeming to momentarily interrupt video.

Some people have reported needing to reinstall Zoom to get it to work with links to meetings in Firefox after the first use.

This is actually a Firefox problem not a Zoom problem, since Firefox is responsible for handling what the link does.

Open the Zoom app from the MX menu and enter the meeting ID, then at the prompt the password; no problem.

Hi ..My set up. Compaq Presario CQ56.. New MX installation

.Host: mx Kernel: 4.19.0-6-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2
Distro: MX-19.1_x64 patito feo February 15 2020
Machine: Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: Presario CQ56 Notebook PC
v: 0599100000202810010020100 serial: <root required>
Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 1605 v: 90.17 serial: <root required>
BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: F.15 date: 04/07/2011
Battery: ID-1: BAT0 charge: 56.3 Wh condition: 56.3/56.3 Wh (100%)
CPU: Topology: Single Core model: Intel Celeron 900 bits: 64 type: MCP L2 cache: 1024 KiB
Speed: 2195 MHz min/max: N/A Core speed (MHz): 1: 2195
Graphics: Device-1: Intel Mobile 4 Series Integrated Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel resolution: 1366x768~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Mobile Intel GM45 Express v: 2.1 Mesa 18.3.6
Audio: Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-6-amd64
Network: Device-1: Realtek RTL8191SEvA Wireless LAN driver: rtl8192se
IF: wlan0 state: up mac: 1c:65:9d:04:ec:1e
Device-2: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169
IF: eth0 state: down mac: c8:0a:a9:fb:2a:43
Drives: Local Storage: total: 298.09 GiB used: 8.24 GiB (2.8%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: MK3276GSX size: 298.09 GiB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 290.41 GiB used: 8.24 GiB (2.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.00 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda2
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 34.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A

So Zoom is a problem ,, I downloaded ZooM first from the Zoom download site and installed via synaptic package manager ... Ok ...registers on the desk top fine
but zilch no activity does not connect ... so I REMOVED IT.... via the same way .. synaptic etc .. downloaded from the flatpak info in the MX packages .. no problem .. still the same a dead duck no activity ....I have Skype perfect with audio and video brilliant .. no Zoom however .

No here in the Uk with most folks on lockdown and talking to each other at distance throughout the the uk on internet video conferencing , Skype, Houseparty , Zoom parties etc... .. I would dearly love to enable ZOOM ..and whilst it appears OK on MX 19 to be fine " it is not" .. any geek out there to sort me ? I am a new user but not to Linux... do I really want to leave and return to W10 ? ...everything else with this distro is just real good .. good luck all any help ?

Pls paste the full output of MX Tools >> Quick System Info here.

I assume you chose the Debian version of the .deb file from Zoom download site and not the Ubuntu version of the .deb?

Because the Debian 8+ version of the deb file definitely works. That's how I initially installed Zoom on MX19, before the devs added it to the MX Packageinstaller under Popular Apps tab. After they added it, I've used the entry in Popular Apps to update the app (when I knew an update was available).

Also, what do you mean by "no activity"? You can't open the app at all?

Why not just use something like Jitsi? All it requires is a browser. No downloads or installation needed.

https://meet.jit.si/

Enter and share a name for your meeting room. It doesn't get much easier than that.

TTwrs wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 5:03 pm Why not just use something like Jitsi?

Because everyone I am meeting with is using Zoom?

Exactly. I've tried to suggest jitsi, but have found only a few takers. Once users get used to an app, many don't want to switch or have to learn something new.

But like I said, zoom works fine on mx19, so may we see your qsi?

Zoom have simply taken Jitsi's (Apache licensed) code and added a lot of annoying bells and whistles.

Edit: My opinion of Zoom has changed - see post #48 in this thread.

Is there a plan to add Zoom to the MX Linux repository?

MXPI >> Popular apps tab

Been testing Zoom, Jitsi meet and Skype recently: I find Zoom works best of the three once you get
used to its idiosyncrasies. Jitsi meet is OK but it employs more of the users' processing and bandwidth
resources than does Zoom. Skype is not available for 32-bit Linux (and I am prejudiced against its owner).

Me would prefer p2p video conferencing cause end to end encryption sounds like nuts when there is always a foreign server in the middle of the call. But as long as mobile phones sit behind up to 2 NATs in private networks it can not be used with mobile to mobile. You can see it if you do a traceroute from mobile phone to google. Hmm, at least in germany. Maybe with ip6 it is more possible.

Yes, kickout, agree with you that p2p is best, and the original Skype worked very well with p2p.
But AFAIK no p2p video conferencing program is available now.

P.S. Jitsi meet uses p2p for 1-to-1 calls but not for conferencing.

Open-source with end-to-end encryption, or I won't use it. The more I read about Zoom, the less I trust them.

I'll definitely take a peek at Jitsi.

Interesting read on Zoom's encryption methods:

https://citizenlab.ca/2020/04/move-fast ... -meetings/

asqwerth wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 2:26 am ...Once users get used to an app, many don't want to switch or have to learn something new...

Sounds similar to why Windows remains so popular.

I am in the same camp as WinExodus on this one concerning end-to-end encryption. Jitsi is intriguing if it can be used on a non-Chrome browser.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fan of Google.