Skype video worked very well on my Xubuntu netbook a couple of years ago but
I haven't had any occasion to use it lately.

It might be my cam I guess.
A logitech.. I might see about getting another.

Mine was the video cam built into my original eeepc.

Can you get it to work on any OS?

My ISP has things blocked so I cannot use skype at all

I cannot even ping my ip address from out side my isp.

Oh yea. I used it all day on XP.

What version of Ubuntu are you using? In 10.10 there is a glitch which affects
many webcams, including my cheap Chinese unit. The fix is in the Q&A column of
Full Circle Magazine, issue 44.

Does your webcam work in Cheese?

Some people find that they have to start Skype by using this command:
bash -c 'LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype'

The command lsusb will identify your webcam. Mine says:
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0ac8:303b Z-Star Microelectronics Corp. ZC0303 Webcam

Now the odd part: the "easy" way to solve webcam problems is to Google
"0ac8:303b", in the case of my webcam. That's because the people who can give
solutions, will include that information in their answer.

Im on 11.04.
Yes cheese works - very well.

I installed skypeesseintials from Ians post.

Ran the bash command below and when running the test video, it works.

It didnt pick up my mic on the cam so I might have to use a separate mic
for that. Ill test it today.

Are you stuck with only one ISP in your area? There is no way I would
tolerate ANY blocking from my ISP if they had competition.

The problem is well known in the open source world. Skype is proprietary and
so we get what they deliver. Unfortunately it has many of its own drivers
and that does not play well with Linux dirvers. Complaints go back at least
five years. There are other options.

alternativeto.net/software/skype/?platform=linux

In Synaptic I see there is Skyessentials that adds several parts to the
skype program to make it work,

In 10.10, it's called skysentials, and it adds more features rather than making
it work.

10.10 doesn't seem to recognize my MS Lifecam...any specials tips for
getting it recognized, beyond plugging it in?