Linux

Install Skype on Debian Squeeze/Sid AMD64

Skype is not available on the official repositories of Debian Squeeze/Sid AMD64, so here it is a guide on how to manually install it.

First we need to install some dependencies that, fortunately, are available on the repositories:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs ia32-libs-gtk
Than we need to download the “Dynamic Static” version of Skype from the download page. Once you have done it, you have to install it with the following commands from a terminal:
tar xjvf skype-2.1.0.81.tar.bz2
sudo mv skype-2.1.0.81 /opt/skype

Than you can create the launcher in /usr/bin:
sudo vim/usr/bin/skype
And inside it you should write (or just copy and paste):
#!/bin/bash
cd /opt/skype
./skype

Than make it executable:
sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/skype
Then to update the applications menu use the following commands from the terminal:
sudo cp /opt/skype/skype.desktop /usr/share/applications/skype.desktop
sudo vim /usr/share/applications/skype.desktop

And change the following line:
Icon=skype.png
with:
Icon=/opt/skype/icons/SkypeBlue_48x48.png
And so you should have a functional Skype on Debian Squeeze/Sid AMD64.

Marco Di Fresco