Spux - native vent client

[hmmm]

http://svn.spuxproject.net/svn/spux

"Spux is a VOIP client that implements the Ventrilo 3.0 protocol and is strictly for Linux. The project is open source and currently under development by a community of programmers. Upon completion Spux will allow users to join and communicate with other users on Ventrilo servers."

To quote the dev:

"I thought i'd update the forum users of where "spux is at" development wise.

You can view the roadmap at: http://trac.spuxproject.net/trac/spux/roadmap

As you can see, we are unfortunately rather behind schedule... But that has been due to various complications and is of no fault of the development team.

Currently, we at a sort pre-pre-alpha stage. Although pre-alpha has not been officially announced/released, we are rapidly approaching it. I don't want to say too much, because then I might be inaccurate and give you false information, but pre-alpha shouldn't be too far off.

I'm sure you can imagine that contributions are very important at this stage of development, especially in the QA area. So if you have been waiting for the perfect moment to get contributing, now is probably your time.

If you have anymore questions please join us on #spux (irc.freenode.net)."

[Dragonlord]

Hopefully this is eventually a vent client which actually works :P

[L33F3R]

*creams ones pants*

Its about bloody time!@!

[justsumdood]

Hopefully this is eventually a vent client which actually works :P

as of 06.16.2009 @ aproximately 3am EST, the first VOIP conversation using the spux client took place utilizing the speex codec. current issues at this point are:
-pulseaudio issues in distros that have implemented it(and probably shouldn't have but hey they said the same thing about kde4 and look how that went)
-on many vent servers, attempting to change channels causes a disconnect from the server(Server Closed Socket errors)
-Push To Talk(PTT) hotkeys have not yet been implemented
-no GSM codec support just yet

If you can code and you'd like to have a native vent client for linux, i urge you to please come and contribute to the project. If you can't code, then please, come help with testing and submitting bug reports and debug info.

And please, spread the word. Tell a friend to tell a friend. Make spux a reality for us. Your contributions can help to make that happen faster.

[L33F3R]

in my brain i know ventrillo will try to take credit for this or they will move to a newer version. In my heart I know I should support this because such a program has a very noble goal.

its kind of torn between using vent and supporting vent. With their blatant lies when it comes to linux it is very hard to want to rent another vent server :mad:.

That said, this initiative is a pot of good :).

[Dragonlord]

If you can code and you'd like to have a native vent client for linux, i urge you to please come and contribute to the project. If you can't code, then please, come help with testing and submitting bug reports and debug info.
Can code: Yes. Can help: No. Got my own epic project to attend to so I've little to no time left for other things at the time being. But I would not go for PulseAudio. Not sure why people are so fond of that in the shape it is right now.

[justsumdood]

Can code: Yes. Can help: No. Got my own epic project to attend to so I've little to no time left for other things at the time being. But I would not go for PulseAudio. Not sure why people are so fond of that in the shape it is right now.

not sure as to why folks are so fond of kde4 either(distro maintainers that is), but they sure did go ahead and start using it. and as a kde fanboy i gotta say i don't care for kde4 at all.

in my brain i know ventrillo will try to take credit for this or they will move to a newer version. In my heart I know I should support this because such a program has a very noble goal.

its kind of torn between using vent and supporting vent. With their blatant lies when it comes to linux it is very hard to want to rent another vent server .

That said, this initiative is a pot of good .

At this point, i don't really care how the Ventrilo developer feels, i only know that i have been waiting on the order of almost 3 years for a linux client and i'm sick of fiddling with WINE.

To me, WINE is both a poor solution and a poor excuse. It's a poor solution to making software run in an environment certain developers are sometimes downright hostile towards, and it's a poor excuse for other certain developers to use to NOT port their applications(hey it works great in WINE, but hey we won't offer you support on that software you paid for if you do so).

Myself, i am not opposed to running "proprietary software" on linux. i just want it natively.

Yes i'm almost certain the Ventrilo dev will make the next version of the server "break" spux. And the spux team will fix it. And at that point there will be an arms race. but maybe, just maybe, instead of "breaking" spux, said developer might be spurred to get off his duff and finally offer a competing client on our chosen Operating System.

[L33F3R]

agreed

Its also fair to note that its been alot longer then 3 years they have been promising a client. I have asked them on several occasions to drop the "in development" line and cut the bullshit. I am not alone on this. But who's listening? Meh, they worse then the f#$%'n government :rolleyes:.

[Dragonlord]

not sure as to why folks are so fond of kde4 either(distro maintainers that is), but they sure did go ahead and start using it. and as a kde fanboy i gotta say i don't care for kde4 at all.
Never said that. How you get to that impression?

[justsumdood]

Never said that. How you get to that impression?

But I would not go for PulseAudio. Not sure why people are so fond of that in the shape it is right now.

I was making a comparison of the sorry state of kde4, and yet distros pushed it out anyway. Just as they pushed out PulseAudio despite it's sorry state as well.

[Dragonlord]

My question then still stands. If one knows it's in a sorry state, why base upon it yet?

[justsumdood]

My question then still stands. If one knows it's in a sorry state, why base upon it yet?

i cannot answer that question for you (as i am not part of the development team, i'm just someone who is anxiously awaiting spux and helping with testing) however, you are more than welcome to drop by #spux on irc.freenode.net and pose your question to the core development team.

<edit> i should also perhaps clarify that spux is not based on PulseAudio, but ALSA. PulseAudio in some of the newer distro releases has been causing some issues though and these issues need to be worked out. i apologize if this was the impression that was given.</edit>

[msierks]

Thank you all for your interest in the project. What Spux needs now more than ever is your support to make it a success. So if you are tired of fiddling with WINE to use Ventrilo, come join us and get involved. :)

www.spuxproject.net
irc.freenode.net #spux

[L33F3R]

Thank you all for your interest in the project. What Spux needs now more than ever is your support to make it a success. So if you are tired of fiddling with WINE to use Ventrilo, come join us and get involved. :)

www.spuxproject.net
irc.freenode.net #spux

are you part of the dev team?

[msierks]

Yes I am part of the development team, I am also the founder.

[L33F3R]

well hell man. If you need a bug catcher im hear for you. I cant help program the thing because unfortunately im one of the few people at phoronix who cant XD.

[msierks]

That is okay we have plenty of developers atm. But bug catchers and funding is needed, developers meet on irc.freenode.net #spux as well as who ever else is interested.

[Kano]

I did not try it, but instead of a Linux only client I usally would prefer a mulitplattform client. The gui should not be the problem, that looks like GTK which is used by Pidgin too and this is available for all. You would definitely attract much more users that way. First convice em to use your tool - that does not require a change of the os usually. All good tools are mulitplattform like Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, Pidgin...

[msierks]

Yes that is something the project is planned to head in the future, but for now it's Linux only. Porting most of the code to other OS's will not be difficult therefore it can wait till a working Linux client has been achieved as that is needed most at this point.

[L33F3R]

well i have been falling behind in my donations so heres 5 bucks for good luck. Ders been alot of deserving projects lately so you all need to share :p.

Hopefully ill be back on a linux machine shortly.

As for multiplatform, unless you make it better then the real vent client its unlikely you will make much of an impact. BSD/Solaris might be a goal but mac/windows users are often too closed minded for their own good.

[msierks]

Thank You

BSD and Solaris is a goal of the project as well, and I do think Windows and Mac will be something just to do for experience even if those users are closed minded. Though there is room for much improvement of the official client.

[Milyardo]

What are the chances you guys can work with the Mumble developers to turn spux into a addon/plugin/extension. Mumble already has a great foundation for a low latency voice chat application, this could also open up the possiblity for open source implementations of the Teamspeak 2 and 3 protocols via Mumble/spux as well.

If you go this route, It'd be best to start work soon rather than later.

[msierks]

Creating a plug-in for Mumble was suggested to me a long time ago around the start of the project, but as it is I don't agree with some of the decisions the Mumble developers have made. Rather than slander the name of Mumble as I have the up-most respect for its developers I will just say chances are slim.

[L33F3R]

has a multi voip app been suggested? similar to what pidgin does for instant messenger. No doubt very difficult.

[DeepDayze]

Hopefully this is eventually a vent client which actually works :P

Agreed...the windows one is rather dicey too

[msierks]

has a multi voip app been suggested? similar to what pidgin does for instant messenger. No doubt very difficult.

Yes it has, unfortunately it would require a lot of time and hard work which I don't have atm. Though it is a great idea.

[DeepDayze]

well i have been falling behind in my donations so heres 5 bucks for good luck. Ders been alot of deserving projects lately so you all need to share :p.

Hopefully ill be back on a linux machine shortly.

As for multiplatform, unless you make it better then the real vent client its unlikely you will make much of an impact. BSD/Solaris might be a goal but mac/windows users are often too closed minded for their own good.

Exactly...so it's good sense to make a multiplatform client. The linux client's a good start to get the code and interface right. Then it can be ported to Windows/Mac

[msierks]

Those were my thoughts as well, with the exception of BSD and Solaris.

[Ant P.]

Yes it has, unfortunately it would require a lot of time and hard work which I don't have atm. Though it is a great idea.

I was about to suggest the same thing until I saw someone'd already posted it. A multi-protocol VOIP client would be a killer app for Linux IMO. (does anything else do that yet?)

[L33F3R]

maybe. but not for vent, teamspeak or Mohawk. :p

[msierks]

no not to my knowledge either.