Ring (software)

Ring

Original author(s)	Savoir-faire Linux Inc.
Stable release	none
Preview release	Beta 2 / 3 November 2016; 2 months ago (2016-11-03)
Development status	Beta + Development
Written in	C / C++
Operating system	Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Android
Platform	i386, amd64, powerpc, sparc
Available in	English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Italian, Vietnamese
Type	VoIP, telephony, softphone,
License	GNU General Public License 3
Website	ring.cx/en

GNU Ring (formerly SFLphone) is an open-source -compatible softphone and instant messenger for Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X and Android that can work without a central server. Ring is free software released under the GNU General Public License. In November 2016, it became part of the GNU Project. Packages are available for all major Linux distributions including Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu. Separate GNOME and KDE versions are available.

By adopting distributed hash table technology (as used, for instance, within the BitTorrent network), Ring creates its own network over which it can distribute directory functions, authentication and encryption across all systems connected to it.

SFLphone was one of the few softphones under Linux to support PulseAudio out of the box. The Ubuntu documentation recommended it for enterprise use because of features like conferencing and attended call transfer. In 2009, CIO magazine listed SFLphone among the top five open-source VoIP softphones to watch.

One step beyond SFLphone, Ring retained SIP compatibility and support, while adding a new communication platform that does not require a centralized server to establish communication.

Ring is based on a MVC model, with a daemon (the model) a client (the view) communicating. The daemon handles all the processing including communication layer (SIP/IAX), audio capture and playback, and so on. The client is a graphical user interface. D-Bus can act as the controller enabling communication between the client and the daemon.