Install latest Skype on CentOS

Download static archive of Skype from main skype website.The latest version while writing this tutorial was skype_staticQT-2.2.0.99.To download, you can do:

# cd /tmp
# wget http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-beta-static
# cd /opt
# tar jxf /tmp/skype_static-2.2.0.99.tar.bz2
# rm /tmp/skype_static-2.2.0.99.tar.bz2
# ln -s skype_staticQT-2.2.0.99 skype

To make it easy to launch Skype and remove shared library related errors, do this:

# ln -s /opt/skype /usr/share/skype
# ln -s /opt/skype/skype /usr/bin/skype
# ln -s /usr/lib/libtiff.so.3 /usr/lib/libtiff.so.4

Even if you are running 64 bit CentOS version, you should install some 32 bit libraries as:

# yum install glibc.i686 alsa-lib.i686 libXv.i686 libXScrnSaver.i686 libSM.i686 libXi.i686 libXrender.i686 libXrandr.i686 freetype.i686 fontconfig.i686 zlib.i686 glib2.i686 libstdc++.i686 libtiff.i686 qt.i686 qt-x11.i686 pulseaudio-libs.i686 pulseaudio-libs-glib2.i686 alsa-plugins-pulseaudio.i686 

And, if you have CentOS media available:

# yum --disablerepo=\* --enablerepo=c6-media install glibc.i686 alsa-lib.i686 libXv.i686 libXScrnSaver.i686 libSM.i686 libXi.i686 libXrender.i686 libXrandr.i686 freetype.i686 fontconfig.i686 zlib.i686 glib2.i686 libstdc++.i686 libtiff.i686 qt.i686 qt-x11.i686 pulseaudio-libs.i686 pulseaudio-libs-glib2.i686 alsa-plugins-pulseaudio.i686 

Now, you should have a working Skype. Run it as:

# skype

Tested on CentOS 6.2