Take to night for example, I was brought an HP laptop with a badly functioning winXP. By badly I mean almost unbootable. I told them I ether put Linux on it or they take it else where. This client is familiar with linux because I had put linux on a desktop for them before.

And that desktop is still up and running to this day, this laptop is a new addition to the families PCs. It came with winXP-pro, and didn’t even run 1 year without taking a dump. Now if that isn’t a bench mark for you, then you’ll never believe anything.

Anyway, the client said go for it install Linux. So I guess my resolve to not touch another windoz system is the right method to remove this throne in my life. Just stand firm.

So another one bites the dust. !!!!!!!!!!

I was listening to a linux podcast, and they mentioned that if you loaded skype from the command line, then video would work.

So I tried it and it does work quite will. Here is the command.

env LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype

Apparently skype fails to load this lib file on it’s own, in the linux version. So all one needs to do is edit the launcher icon, to include that command and then you’ll have your video enabled in skype.

I hope that will help some one else get skype to working properly.

Regarding your blurb about multimedia apps playing a blue screen in Mepis you wrote:

I don’t know if google will find this page for some future poor soul that is having that same problem but if it does. Here’s the fix!

It did. I’m one poor soul that was floundering around in the world of blue screens unable to watch even videos of my grandson. I had really

liked every other aspect of Mepis 8 and was in the process of sadly trying alternate distros for my two Mepis laptops when I FINALLY saw your words “they just play a blue screen with great sound.” in one of my google results–albeit about the fifth page, two-thirds of the way down.

Thank you for posting that problem and solution on your blog. I hope it helps others. Like you, I can’t believe there isn’t more enlightenment about this among the Mepis community. I suspect this is a much more widespread phenomenon than they realize, and that folks like me (the ones that search in vain for a thread or start one about it on their forum and get unworkable answers) simply do as me, and you, and move on to another distro.

Oh well, maybe one of us should tell them. Perhaps I will, since my daughter goes to WVU.

Thank again, and have a great week.

Sammy Kent

Thankyou Sammy for your contribution to my post.