It is NOT as easy as it would first seem. Some magic wand waving (oh yes — Hokey Pokey again!) is required.
Download Skype for Debian 7 (multi-arch)
NOTE: if you are using Ubuntu or Linux Mint, you will need to download the Ubuntu Multiarch version, instead.
1. What is multi-arch? Multi-arch supports the 32 bit libraries needed to run Skype or even Boinc. So first we need to tell Wheezy (Debian 7 — 64 bit) that we need this support:
Linux 3.2.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.2.41-2 x86_64 GNU/Linux
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
Normally, you would just get a prompt.
2. Now update the system:
sudo apt-get update
and it should find all the necessary components for the 32 bit support. Yup, Skype even on a 64 bit system, is a 32 bit application!
3. I found it necessary to run upgrade after doing the update, this differs from what other sites say.
sudo apt-get upgrade
4. Let’s install Skype!
sudo dpkg -i skype-debian_4.1.0.20-1_i386.deb
Or whatever version you download.
5. If you end up with um-met dependencies like I did, Don’t Panic!
Simply tell Linux to fix the dependencies:
sudo apt-get install -f
Repeat step 4 (above)
6. Q.E.D.
