PLUG Mug Video chat? Monday April 27??

ssfc72 · April 25, 2020, 06:17:18 PM

OK guys, do you want to do another Skype video chat this Monday at 8pm or is there a more suitable day/time? Did you want to try to use the Zoom video conferencing, this time.

fox · April 25, 2020, 06:42:23 PM

This Monday works for me. I don't care what software we use. I have Zoom and I have Skype.

Jason · April 25, 2020, 09:53:01 PM

It'd be fine with me, but Fox, don't you have a show at 9 pm? Be nice if we could chat for more than hour so perhaps 7 pm instead? I'm game either way.

I think that Zoom is out because you have to pay for anything more than one-on-one chats. Because Dougal had some issues in Skype and because it'd be fun to try something else, I was thinking we could try Jitsi, but strangely I don't see a Linux client, instead they have mobile clients. There is a Jitsi desktop that is multi-platform but it looks like they haven't supported it any more years. However, in the FAQ they say to use chat through the website here:

https://meet.jit.si/

It will advise you to install an extension and then it looks like you setup a new meeting right there. I haven't tried to do one yet. Perhaps Dougal and I or ssfc and I can do a chat before Monday on it to make sure we know the basics? Are either of you guys game for that?

Btw, Jitsi chats are fully encrypted end-to-end which I think personally is the only way to go when encryption is available.

dougal · April 25, 2020, 10:12:53 PM

i'm not sure what happened to the post i just typed so here goes...i put together a new unit today so i can function from my livingroom. long story on why that is a good thing. anyway the mint 19.3 doesn't seem to want to take audio input from my headset or webcam...works in zoom but not jitsi or skype......so until i can figure that out i'm limited to zoom ...zoom allows more than 2 but with a 40 min time limit. i've participated this way and just started a new meeting at the end of the first,that's a new invite and joining by each participant. i would be willing to play with jitsi so see if we could get it to work jason.
btw monday afternoon for a call/meeting is my preference.

Jason · April 26, 2020, 02:38:54 AM

If only there was a way to schedule a meeting without multiple messages going back and forth to find a time.

And one that Jason previously mentioned.

Oh yeah, there is! That's a link to the Doodle tool for your own use. But here's the link you use to vote on the times you prefer. You can choose more than one time.

If anybody else is our little user group wants to participate, use that link to vote on the time(s) you like best, too. We'd love to see more come out.

Note that the way it shows the times is a bit odd, it one time for each day and then repeats the days over with another time. You might find that clicking on the Calendar button shows a friendlier format. You scroll up and down instead of side-to-size but at least one day shows all the times on it. Nobody has to stay for the 2 hours. You can leave at any time.

I put that the meeting would be on Zoom for the location but Dougal and will try tomorrow if we can get jitsi to work. Zoom might be handy because it integrates with Doodle although I'm not sure what that means yet. But I prefer the idea of encrypted video chat and not signing off every 40 minutes and back on.

Sorry, Dougal, I can't do Monday afternoon. That's my afternoon for running errands. But please go and vote for another time you prefer or several. I put in slots for the rest of week and weekend for afternoons and evenings.

ssfc72 · April 26, 2020, 05:45:45 AM

So, the Doodle program costs $4.40 USD a month or are you using the trial version, Jason?

Seems to be a nice program to use. Perhaps Jason, you could add to the PLUG Mug, Doodle title, that the reply deadline is Sunday evening. Then if no consensus is reached for having a group video chat, for the week, then we would try again the following week.

Jason · April 26, 2020, 06:12:35 AM

Quote from: ssfc72 on April 26, 2020, 05:45:45 AM
So, the Doodle program costs $4.40 USD a month or are you using the trial version, Jason?

Seems to be a nice program to use. Perhaps Jason, you could add to the PLUG Mug, Doodle title, that the reply deadline is Sunday evening. Then if no consensus is reached for having a group video chat, for the week, then we would try again the following week.

Although they don't seem to promote it, there must still be a free version. I have an old account from many years ago. I was able to set up the meeting poll (that's what they call it) without paying anything, not even for the trial.

But when I was doing it they had some other features I was locked out of, for example, the reply deadline. So I can't add that to the event. But your suggestion is good. So to all from near and far, you need to make your preferences known by 9 PM tonight (Sunday). so Bill can choose a date/time based on time(s) the maximum number of people can attend. I think you can see the totals, Bill. Let me know if you can't.

ssfc72 · April 26, 2020, 08:59:01 AM

Ok, so I will try and download and try out the Zoom video group chat, today and see if I can get it to work for me. If I like Zoom, then I will probably give it a try for the PLUG Mug Chat.

BusterE · April 26, 2020, 01:03:09 PM

Installing Zoom is dead easy using

https://zoom.us/download?os=linux

Never saw a terminal.

Note on my Mint I am HarryE so that is where the invitation should be sent. May or may not join. We usually go offline after six and eat about 8:00.

ssfc72 · April 26, 2020, 04:33:40 PM

Ok guys, I tried to get Zoom to work on my Linux notebooks and met with failure. Zoom seems to be very clunky to get going compared to Skype.
With Mint 19 and MXLinux running on each of my notebook computers, I tried using the Opera browser and Zoom didn't work and I also tried Firefox and it didn't work.
The defaults in Zoom had video turned off. I had to toggle that on. When I tried to start a meeting, I got a small window poping up that wanted to start some deb program and nothing happened when I clicked on the program/file.
Zoom complained that I should try running Chrome, which I am not going to do. Zoom complained that it couldn't find an audio on one of the notebooks.

So unless someone else wants to try and host a Zoom video group meeting, then I will be running a Skype video group meeting.

Jason · April 26, 2020, 10:05:00 PM

Quote from: ssfc72 on April 26, 2020, 04:33:40 PM
Ok guys, I tried to get Zoom to work on my Linux notebooks and met with failure. Zoom seems to be very clunky to get going compared to Skype.
With Mint 19 and MXLinux running on each of my notebook computers, I tried using the Opera browser and Zoom didn't work and I also tried Firefox and it didn't work.
The defaults in Zoom had video turned off. I had to toggle that on. When I tried to start a meeting, I got a small window poping up that wanted to start some deb program and nothing happened when I clicked on the program/file.
Zoom complained that I should try running Chrome, which I am not going to do. Zoom complained that it couldn't find an audio on one of the notebooks.

Okay, I'm confused. You said that you tried using the Opera and Firefox browsers and Zoom didn't work. Why would it be necessary to use a browser? Were you trying to use the browser extension? It'd be nice if the extension worked but I'd recommend downloading the client instead which is at the link that Buster gave. Have you tried that yet?

Jason · April 26, 2020, 10:34:11 PM

The doodle event poll ended. And the meeting day/time is <long drumroll> tomorrow at 7 pm.

If you haven't already, Bill, give the Zoom client a chance, don't worry about the browser extension, which is what it sounds like you were playing with. The link to download is the one given by Buster. Mint is on the list, too. If the browser doesn't open it directly from the download, go to the file manager and open it from there. You can check your software manager to see if it's in there. I have 3 different versions of it in Discover - deb, snap and flatpak.

I prefer to use the package manager when I can as it's not clear to me if downloaded deb files are updated or not. I think if they're the same one as in repo, they are.