After reinstalling my laptop from scratch with a Debian netinstall cd [the old harddrive died on me :(], I installed the Gizmo VOIP client. I think it's better than Skype; it uses the ALSA sound system, native GTK2 [so it actually looks good], and is based on the open standard SIP. Too bad it's not Open Source. However, the Ekiga VOIP client [formerly known as Gnome Meeting] is. And that one even supports webcams :)

The only thing Skype does better is group chats. Still, I'm not going to install that client again; they seem to be working on ALSA support, but it hasn't shown up after 9 months, and it's just too proprietary for me to trust it'll work out OK. So, anybody has a Gizmo account or SIP address he/she wants to share with me? :)

BTW, just like Skype, Gizmo has a client for the Mac and Windows too. A Windows port of Ekiga is also in the making, so there's no good reason not to try something other than Skype :)