Plugging Skype and Pidgin together
After thinking about
de-nuctifying the world
I've started to investigate creating a
Pidgin
(formerly
Gaim) plugin to control
Skype. This means you're still using a
closed network, but from an open program, which makes migrating easier (and
allows people to try multiple networks from the same interface).
The
Skype API docs
are pretty good and it looks like the API can support at least controlling
status, sending and receiving text messages, and making and receiving phone
calls. So in principle a Skype plugin for Pidgin is a possibility.
There are a few docs on writing libpurple plugins for Pidgin but less
comprehensively - the
author of the
Sametime plugin or the guy working on a
MySpaceIM plugin
probably know exactly how it works (the MySpaceIM plugin is a Google Summer of
Code project that fits in with my idea very nicely). There is a C Plugin HOWTO
in the source code which should get things started. Some ideas in the
Adium Skype plugin bug as
well.
On the way I read
Silver Needle in the Skype
which is an article on reverse-engineering Skype and using it - very
interesting tech reading... but a shame they haven't made the code available
Well since it's 8 days till we leave Cape Town and head to Japan I'm not
planning to actually
do anything about this, but thought I'd write it
up so I don't lose the links...
PS This blog doesn't currently have a comment mechanism so email comments are
welcome to davidf
at sjsoft
dot com.
Update (
2008-03-06): There is now an excellent implementation of a
Skype Plugin for Pidgin
(Adium and other lib-purple apps too) developed by Eion Robb. Development at
skype4pidgin on Google
code.