[14:35] <gamerchick02> cmaloney, i tried Jit.si and it didn't work for my mom so we switched to Zoom. i'm not happy about that but whatever
[14:45] <jrwren> why not skype, or google hangouts or google duo or facetime?
[14:45] <cmaloney> gamerchick02: Firefox?
[14:45] <gamerchick02> yes firefox
[14:45] <cmaloney> I tried it with my parents and they had to use Chrome
[14:46] <cmaloney> it was slightly frustrating to my dad to log into Chrome, but eventually they managed
[14:46] <cmaloney> and you could see the light dawn for them on why this was useful
[14:47] <gamerchick02> jwren, i'm the only apple user in the family (ipad and i don't facetime with it), no to skype, no to hangouts, no to duo. it's too much to deal with right now, i do not have the bandwidth to help remotely right now.
[14:47] <cmaloney> jrwren: I have reasons for each, but not sure if you care to hear them
[14:48] <gamerchick02> i can't leave to drive the hour and a half-ish to her house without risking a jail sentence and a $1000 fine so i'm not taking chances and i'm not happy about it. i know WHY (to keep the richies from going to their summer homes) but dang if it's killing me
[14:49] <cmaloney> Well, it's also to contain the spread of COVID-19
[14:49] <cmaloney> But yeah, if zoom works then cool
[14:50] <cmaloney> THat's one thing I like about Zoom: they've made it really simple to onboard folks
[14:50] <cmaloney> Jitsi is working on the Firefox issues, though so hopefully it'll get better
[14:50] <cmaloney> But yeah, remote diagnostics is no fun
[14:52] <gamerchick02> nice! i'll keep that in mind. it worked for my brother in firefox but he also has a beefy PC (as do i) and she's working from a laptop
[14:53] <gamerchick02> no remote diagnostics is absolutely no fun. i cannot see what she's doing and she's afraid to touch ANYTHING so i say "click on this" and she'll question me. or i'll say what do you see? "nothing." well that's a grand old help.
[14:54] <gamerchick02> when i'm on remote help calls being helped i tell the tech EXACTLY what i see and EXACTLY what i've clicked or typed in.
[14:54] <gamerchick02> with the exception of passwords or passcodes, then i say "i'm entering my password/code"
[14:55] <jrwren> I'd LOVE to hear reasons why zoom is better than skype or hangouts.
[14:56] <jrwren> I guess if it is your typical MSFT is evil stuff, I'd rather not both you with writing it out.
[14:59] <gamerchick02> zoom is not the best. i do not care what the best is but zoom works at this point in time so i'm not going to question it. i do not have bandwidth to argue with anyone about semantics about which video call software is best when I CANNOT SEE MY MOM to troubleshoot or even just see her in person.
[15:00] <jrwren> that isn't what I mean. i'm not judging.
[15:01] <cmaloney> jrwren: Zoom doesn't require an account to use it, just the client
[15:02] <jrwren> interesting!
[15:02] <cmaloney> jrwren: Also Hangouts used to (not currently) have an upper limit of 10 people for a call
[15:02] <cmaloney> And Skype had a spam problem
[15:03] <gamerchick02> oh yes the whole account thing is one of the reasons why we're using it
[15:03] <cmaloney> Not sure if that is still true with MSFT's transition for Skype from the old client, but leaving up your skype client was bound to attract horny russian girls
[15:04] <gamerchick02> i'd rather her use some open source client on linux but getting her to use linux at this point is a lost cause that i don't have the bandwidth to get her to use either
[15:04] <gamerchick02> EW
[15:04] <cmaloney> Only one person needs a zoom account
[15:04] <jrwren> now that you mention it. that is why i closed the skype client and never used it again many years ago... until a month ago.
[15:04] <gamerchick02> i knew there was a reason why i abandoned skype
[15:04] <jrwren> thanks, that all makes sense.
[15:04] <gamerchick02> now i use skype for business every day for work but mostly screenshare and IM.
[15:04] <cmaloney> So yeah, that's why Zoom is eating MSFT and Google's lunch
[15:05] <cmaloney> Also Google kinda screwed up with their mixed messaging on the state of Hangouts and Google Meet
[15:05] <cmaloney> It's part of the reason I checked out Jami and Signal
[15:06] <cmaloney> And Google Duo feels like one of those Google Projects that gets started and has a half-life of 2 1/2 years before they kill it
[15:06] <cmaloney> see also: Allo
[15:07] <gamerchick02> see also Stadia. i predict that to be gone before 2025
[15:07] <cmaloney> And Facetime is Apple only so Zoom has the advantage there
[15:07] <cmaloney> gamerchick02: problem with Stadia is they should have kept Google Fiber to supplement it
[15:07] <gamerchick02> plus 1 to facetime. i realize that facetime is so EASY (i have used it in the past) but it's apple only and will never get ported to another system
[15:08] <gamerchick02> cmaloney, yes i agree. "every google fiber customer gets Stadia for $X extra if they want it."
[15:08] <gamerchick02> or they get a free trial for X months
[15:08] <cmaloney> This is why I'm so hot on Jitsi, because it's actual competition to Zoom from the OSS side
[15:08] <gamerchick02> i prefer PS4 and switch for gaming :)
[15:08] <cmaloney> Well, it also takes care of the crappy bandwidth issues
[15:09] <gamerchick02> oh and PC. one of the reasons why i've not bopped into the xbox arena... because almost all xbox games are on windows
[15:09] <gamerchick02> plus i'm not a halo fan. *shrug*
[15:09] <cmaloney> But alas, I'm not Google, and even sometimes I wonder if GOogle is either
[15:09] <gamerchick02> lol true. their messaging services are just a hot mess right now
[15:10] <cmaloney> I will admit that since the closure of G+ I'm not about to put in any effort into exploring Google products
[15:10] <gamerchick02> i still use hangouts but want to kill it in favor of telegram. just need one person to move over to telegram. hangouts doesn't even work on my watch
[15:11] <gamerchick02> i actually liked G+. why do they kill the good stuff... RSS, G+, hangouts (almost)
[15:12] <cmaloney> I'm really hesitant about telegram, honestly. They've done a few things that really irritate me, not the least of which is their ICO for their BS whatever-coin.
[15:12] <cmaloney> gamerchick02: There's more corporate whuffie to be had in decommissioning and creating new products than maintaining them.
[15:12] <gamerchick02> i just want fewer chat apps on my phone
[15:12] <gamerchick02> true
[15:16] <jrwren> i find it is pretty easy... don't use products by the really evil companies. IMO GOOG and FB are REALLY evil. that cuts out over 50% of the chat app market ;)
[15:17] <cmaloney> jrwren: indeed
[15:27] <gamerchick02> jrwren, that's great but then i'm vastly limiting my pool of friends (people i actually know in meatspace) that can contact me online. it's a double edged sword.
[15:29] <gamerchick02> not everyone knows that these companies are terrible (or they know and don't care). i know and care but in the interest of keeping in contact with people, i use them. *sigh*. yes i've given out my number (please do text me. please!) they insist on contacting me on facebook.
[15:30] <gamerchick02> oh and honestly there are people i only want to contact me on facebook (cue people that i'm connected to because reasons but don't want to have my mobile # also for reasons. those reasons being every dang meme and conservative thought that passes through their head)
[15:32] <jrwren> yup.
[15:32] <jrwren> its a choice.
[15:32] <jrwren> i'm ok with limiting my pool of friends.
[15:32] <jrwren> i say, "I don't use that"
[15:33] <jrwren> always hilarious when i login to FB once every 6mo or so and see old messenger messages I missed.
[15:33] <jrwren> just a week or so ago I learned how to see the cold messages on there... saw something from years ago... cuz FB can't write software for shit.
[15:38] <cmaloney> I much prefer the "I'm not on Facebook" response, but I know that's a choice. :)
[15:38] <cmaloney> My email is public if someone wants to get a hold of me
[15:44] <jrwren> i just got cold emailed by someone after answering their stackoverflow question. am i wrong to find that inappropriate?
[16:11] <gamerchick02> i'm not ok with limiting my pool of friends. many are non-technical (like through OES and Nile) and i'm not going to snub them because "i don't do facebook". what i do is LIMIT my facebook use to every other day-ish and make sure i have notifications on for events and that's it.
[17:14] <jrwren> sure. life is about choices.
[20:33] <Scary_Guy> I used Jitsi with Firefox and had no issues, but that was before the most recent major update.
[21:15] <cmaloney> I think it's mostly to do with camera / microphone access
[21:15] <cmaloney> My dad had a hell of a time getting it to work with Firefox