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I’ve noticed lots of people around the web having trouble installing Skype on their Linux based Acer Aspire One netbook computers.
Advice on the net varies, but tends to involve going to the terminal and typing on the command line to install the Skype distribution for Linux, then manually editing XML files to add the Skype icon to the Apire One’s uber-simple desktop.
This is do-able, but daunting for Linux newbies, myself included 
.
So, I thought, surely there has to be an easier way… and there is!
1. Go to www.acer.com/aspireone/updates on your Acer Aspire One
2. Click on the “Skype” link and then click on “download Skype” to download the file Skype.sh.zip to your machine’s hard drive.
3. Navigate to your downloads folder (or wherever you saved the file) and double click on it to open up the ZIP file in Xarchiver.
4. Click on “Extract” and select “Extract All” to copy the contents of the ZIP file to a new folder in your Downloads directory.
5. Navigate to the resulting folder and double click on the file skype.sh
6. Click OK to confirm you want to install the update patch.
That’s it – the next time you reboot you’ll find a Skype icon sitting in your connect menu. Just launch it, log in and use Skype as usual. Simple
You’ll find a selection of other popular open source software titles like the Gimp image editor, FileZilla FTP client and lots more under the Connect, Work, Fun and Files categories.
I found this totally by accident while browsing the Aspire One site. Why Acer don’t do more to publicise this for Aspire One owners I’ll never know (and why they don’t have Skype installed on the Aspire One by default is another mystery).
The Acer Aspire One is a superb little machine… and with the addition of some of these extra software titles it will help you to be even more productive on the go.
Enjoy!
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Thanks for the superb and simple guide to install Skype. But isnt video calls possible?
oksorens
Thankyou so much. What a great help!
I had wanted skype on my netbook for ages, but have absolutely NO idea what I am doing, when it comes to fiddling with linix, but I followed your instructions and it worked first time!
that is the hard way of doing it you can go to the skype webpage
and download skype 2 .0 linux fidora 7 and younare done just press alt and F1
and type skype to get it on your desktop just go to terminal and
type sudo mousepad /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/group-app.xml
please dont make a mistake when you find skype change the number
to 8 and delete the !– at the fount and back then reload your aspire one
after that go to connect and skype will be their it is easier then you think.
that is the hard way of doing it you can go to the skype webpage
and download skype 2 .0 linux fidora 7 and younare done just press alt and F1
and type skype to get it on your desktop just go to terminal and
type sudo mousepad /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/group-app.xml
please dont make a mistake when you find skype change the number
to 8 and delete the !– at the fount and back then reload your aspire one
after that go to connect and skype will be their it is easier then you think
just dont make a mes with your computer.
Good post, adding it to my blog now, thanks
Having downloaded it asks for password—what do i type?
Hi Max,
If it’s asking for a password when you try to install the skype download, you need to type in the administrative password you set when you first powered up the AA1.
Once Skype is installed you’ll need your skype username and password to sign in to the application.
Thanks, but it refuses to recognise my original password!!
I`m tempted to use my recovery dvd & start from square one!!!!
Help!
like so many others i struggled to grasp how to install skype(and other programs)on linux, had just about given up till i found this guide, great, thanks
I have tried to download skype.sh.zip and unzip but it saya the format is not recognised on my acer aspire one running linpus lite
So didn’t work for me.
I did try last year to download the fedora 7 version which worked great BUT having just done a reinstall I went to the skype website and found they no longer provide fedora 7 version and 9 doesn’t work, any help appreciated as almost given up getting skype back on. JD
Same issues here. The A110 does not recognise the file and will not install it although it does ask to be updated when clicked. a reboot does not show the skype icon.
and mr.skype has decided to remove fedora 7 application version all together….thats sad.
please help if u know what i am talking about and do the other acer aspire one users a favour.
thx
cheers
Hi Zar / Jo,
Thanks for commenting. Not sure what to suggest here. I switched to running Ubuntu on my AA1 a while back and was delighted with it for some time. Recently however, I’ve switched to running Windows 7 on it. Getting a full-featured version of Skype on my mobile PC, and solving software / driver compatibility issues with some of my essential peripherals, were my main drivers for switching to Windows.
So, I haven’t used the Linpus Lite flavour of Linux for quite a while, and can’t really troubleshoot this one at the moment… at lease not without wiping and re-installing my AA1.
Really sorry you’re having problems. Will have a bit of a dig around and see what info I can find online.
Cheers,
Calvin!
I have tried to download skype.sh.zip and unzip but it saya the format is not recognised on my acer aspire one running linpus lite
So didn't work for me.
I did try last year to download the fedora 7 version which worked great BUT having just done a reinstall I went to the skype website and found they no longer provide fedora 7 version and 9 doesn't work, any help appreciated as almost given up getting skype back on. JD;
Hi there , that website is not working and seems skype for fedora7 disappeared from the internet…wtf
Hi Pepito, thanks for commenting.
This post is pretty old now, and as I mentioned before, I moved on from running the default linux distro that came on the Aspire One. I’m now running Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) on my Aspire One and it runs beautifully.
Installing Skype… and tonnes of other free software… is a doddle using the Ubuntu Software Centre.
I also have 10.04 Long Term Service Release of Ubuntu (Lucid Lynx) running on my mum’s bare bones AA1, and again, it runs beautifully. Much better than the original operating system. I’d recommend giving Ubuntu a try, see how you get on.
This did the trick for me. Thanks!