OSS Video Conference solution?

[Ben Scott]

On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 11:05 AM, Joshua Judson Rosen
<rozzin at geekspace.com> wrote:
>>> If I say "Jabber/XMPP", "SIP", or "H.232"; or "Ekiga", "Pidgin", "Empathy",
>>> or "Jitsi"..., does it mean that I've misunderstood the question?
>>
>>   I expect so, given that at least a couple of those are not video
>> conferencing solutions, and no further information is provided on
>> any of them.
>
> OK..., maybe I'm misunderstanding what "video conferencing" means, then.

  Okay, first, a meta-note: My message below might read harsher than
it's meant to be.  Precise language sometimes does that.  This is
intended as constructive criticism.  Please take this as a friendly
response.

  Now, reply proper:

  First, "video conferencing *solutions*" (emphasis added).

  H.323, XMPP, and SIP are all protocol specifications.  They're not
implementations, and thus not solutions.

  XMPP and SIP are not video conferencing anything.  XMPP is presence
and text-oriented messages, not streaming video.  SIP does session
set-up and tear-down.

  Finally, throwing out a bunch of names with zero additional
information doesn't really help much, unless someone is completely
ignorant of search keywords, which the OP already demonstrated he's
not.

  But, then, perhaps "misunderstood the question" isn't really
accurate, either.  "Misunderstood what a helpful answer is" might be
better.

  And, finally, in the interests of full disclose: Sometimes I'm
guilty of unhelpful replies, too.

-- Ben