I have just installed Debian Jessie (testing) amd64 in my new laptop (it is really stable and the only problem I have is with dual screen).

One of the rare closed source software I use is Skype (only for my day job).
I downloaded skype for “Ubuntu 12.0.4 (multiarch)” and I tried to install in my Jessie.
Skype is built only for i386 architectures, so I need to add (as root) i386 architecture in my system.

dpkg --add-architecture i386

View dependencies of Skype package:

dpkg -I skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
 Architecture: i386
 Depends: libc6 (>= 2.3.6-6~), libc6 (>= 2.7), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1), libqt4-dbus (>= 4:4.5.3), libqt4-network (>= 4:4.8.0), libqt4-xml (>= 4:4.5.3), libqtcore4 (>= 4:4.7.0~beta1), libqtgui4 (>= 4:4.8.0), libqtwebkit4 (>= 2.2~2011week36), libstdc++6 (>= 4.2.1), libx11-6, libxext6, libxss1, libxv1, libssl1.0.0, libpulse0, libasound2-plugins

Try to install dependencies, but I got an error:

apt-get -s install libc6:i386 libggc1:i386  libqt4-dbus:i386 libqt4-network:i386 libqt4-xml:i386 libqtcore4:i386 libqtgui4:i386 libqtwebkit4:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libx11-6:i386 libxext6:i386 libxss1:i386 libxv1:i386 libssl1.0.0:i386 libpulse0:i386 libasound2-plugins:i386

E: Unable to locate package libggc1

Exclude libggc1 and try again, but got another error for libaudio2 :

apt-get -s install libc6:i386 libqt4-dbus:i386 libqt4-network:i386 libqt4-xml:i386 libqtcore4:i386 libqtgui4:i386 libqtwebkit4:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libx11-6:i386 libxext6:i386 libxss1:i386 libxv1:i386 libssl1.0.0:i386 libpulse0:i386 libasound2-plugins:i386

Unpacking libaudio2:i386 (1.9.4-1+b1) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/libaudio2_1.9.4-1+b1_i386.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite shared '/usr/share/doc/libaudio2/changelog.Debian.gz', which is different from other instances of package libaudio2:i386

Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/libaudio2_1.9.4-1+b1_i386.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Library libaudio2 is an indirect dependency from libqtgui4 package. The problem was the packaging of libaudio2. I had already installed libaudio2:amd64. Then I tried to install it for i386 architecture too (as Skype needs it). I got this error because i386 package tried to modify an existing file (‘/usr/share/doc/libaudio2/changelog.Debian.gz’) that belongs to another package (libaudio2:amd64). I overcome this problem by renaming problematic file and let package libaudio2:i386 to finish its job.

mv /usr/share/doc/libaudio2/changelog.Debian.gz /usr/share/doc/libaudio2/changelog.Debian.amd64.gz

Then try to install Skype dependencies again:

apt-get install libc6:i386 libqt4-dbus:i386 libqt4-network:i386 libqt4-xml:i386 libqtcore4:i386 libqtgui4:i386 libqtwebkit4:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libx11-6:i386 libxext6:i386 libxss1:i386 libxv1:i386 libssl1.0.0:i386 libpulse0:i386

After successfully installed dependencies, I installed Skype package:

dpkg -i skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb 

Skype installation completes. Now, my only problem with Skype is that it does not works well with system proxy. As a workaround I start it from command line.

Please avoid Skype as it is a proprietary Voice-over-IP program that uses a proprietary protocol. Using proprietary phone software means that we can’t be sure who is listening in, because we can’t see the code (check corresponding FSF project).
Out of my day job I use Jitsi (and less frequently Ekiga). I guess WebRTC is the future and we must work on that direction.

Finally, Debian Jessie (testing) amd64 looks really stable.

My only problem is when using dual screen (laptop Dell Latitude E5540). When both monitors are active (not mirrored) the refresh rate of the external monitor is 60Hz, but when only external monitor is active, then refresh rate of the external monitor is 75Hz!!! Any ideas???

Regards,
Adrianos Dadis