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Chapter 8, Desktop Programs
#63 Create an Internet Phone
HACK
GnomeMeeting
GnomeMeeting is a fully open source audio and video conferencing tool.
This hack focuses on audio; “Motion Capture and Video Conferencing Fun”
[Hack #64] focuses on the use of GnomeMeeting as a video conferencing tool.
When you use GnomeMeeting, a gatekeeper manages your connection. This
central server provides a directory of connected clients and their call status.
The gatekeeper offers a telephone directory-type service for users, complete
with a user profile. This hack doesn’t cover how to set up a gatekeeper, but
information on this is available at http://opengatekeeper.sourceforge.net.
Using GnomeMeeting is fairly simple if you have a working sound card—
just connect to the default gatekeeper and go. Using GnomeMeeting gets
more complex when you roll a firewall into the mix. GnomeMeeting
requires a number of ports to be open on the firewall for the software to
work. Opening these ports can be a concern for those who feel uncomfort-
able about providing additional access past the firewall. Unfortunately, to
use GnomeMeeting, you must ensure these ports are forwarded to the
machine running GnomeMeeting (or are opened entirely if more than one
machine will run GnomeMeeting), or it won’t work. One slight consolation
is that you can change some of the ports for different numbers by adjusting
some settings in GConf (the