Skype has lately made clear that it will be distributed under an open source license. It started with a user’s complaint to Skype that they needed a Mandriva Linux version of the program, which didn’t exist . Skype soon saw that this person was not by himself in his need, and that many groups were unhappy with a lack of this version. Skype eventually announced that they entered the open source community, which would permit Linux developers to influence the trajectory of Skype to meet the desires of various users.

But make no mistake that this version is catered to the Linux edition only, so Skype is not fully open source, but this is a beginning in stepping into the open source world. It also makes Skype the most important communication programme for Linux enthusiasts available today.

Unfortunately there is no launch date as yet and the details of the application are a bit foggy. Linux has made clear that it is in development however, so let us trust they make good on their word. One also expects this is merely a first step and that development and sharing of an open source Skype will start to get to other operating systems apart from the world of Linux as well.

Although this announcement at Skype is appreciated by the open source customization community, they still have  a very long way to go until they are anywhere near the likes of Wordpress who are well known for the amount of Wordpress customization you can do with their platform.

Although general reception is positive, there are developers who say that Skype’s open source development is not actually open source free software in the accepted sense. This is because because it isn’t yet obvious if only UI code will be available, while network code would remain closed, thus making it seem as though Skype is hoping to seek help from the community gratis without giving anything in return. We will just have to wait and see what finally comes of this. All in all, Skype seems to be shifting in the right direction, and we’ll have to see what the finished service entails.