A Skype Status Menu Gnome Shell Extension is Available!

If you use Skype heavily in Gnome3 then wouldn't it be nice if you could just customize few of Skype related settings (well only one with this app) such as setting your online "status" with ease... then thanks to the power of the Gnome shell extensions... finally a simple script is been written that does exactly that.

This simple app uses the D-bus protocol to access Skype and then "extract" it into a menu for ease of access.

How can I install this Skype Status shell extension?

Open your Terminal and enter the below command.

git clone https://github.com/MrTheodor/gnome-shell-ext.git

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions

cp -r gnome-shell-ext/SkypeNotification@krajniak.info ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions

This works in Fedora Core 15 but not sure if there are issue with your Gnome3 in a different distributions. And thank you Mr Teodor the cool, for this useful utility :).

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Does Skype Keep Aborting After Logging in (Under GNU/Linux)?

Although I don't use Skype at all yet there have been a bit of a discussion especially concerning Skype 2.2.0.25 keep crashing (although many refer to its as a crash, it seems what really happens is that it simply being aborted within the console) under GNU/Linux, MS Windows and even on Mac OSX as well.

Even Skype developers themselves quoted concerning the issue by saying...

"A small number of you may have had problems signing in to Skype. This predominantly affects people using Skype for Windows. We have identified the problem and will issue a fix in the next few hours."  

Source: Skype (read this for instructions on how to fix it under all the operating systems, until they officially fix it).

So in GNU/Linux this is what seems to be happening. Once you log-in to their VOIP servers using your user name and password... then within like 5-6 seconds Skype automatically log-out/exist it self automatically!. For some, a re-installation seems to be the answer but for most it will not fix it.

What the Skype! :)...

But luckily, there is a way to fix this which I saw when reading this ask Ubuntu post. So, until the developers fix this annoying bug, if you use Ubuntu or any other GNU/Linux distribution and experiencing this "tragic" :) issue, then this is how you can fix it.

Open your Terminal and enter the below command.

rm ~/.Skype/shared.xml

Now re-login to your online Skype VOIP account... if everything went well, it should be fixed. 

1. Okay, for the sake of completion :)... under MS Windows, simply delete the below file.

c:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Application Data\Skype\shared.xml

2. In Mac OSX, use the below command.

rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Skype/shared.xml

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Install Skype in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty!

By default Ubuntu does not come with Skype (obviously... it's not even an open-source app). But since VOIP is fast becoming a part of our lives... having Skype installed feels like a must these days, no matter what operating system that you use.

So after installing the newly introduced Ubuntu Natty Narwhal... you can easily install Skype by using two methods. By using the Software center or the Terminal. But since it's supported by Ubuntu repositories... just use your Software center, it's more easier.

From the top left corner, on the panel, search for "ubuntu software center". Launch the app. Now within the "software center", search for "Skype" and simply follow the instructions.

Click on the "Install" button and follow the instructions on the screen...

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