I know, it's unwise to raise the dead [thread] but someone may still be able to breathe life back into this, at least in a Maemo 5 version.

Mumble is still being developed and improved upon, and they are using QT to boot! Although they use Speex, (now included in Maemo 5) in current releases, the plan is to also eventually offer the CELT codec for higher bandwidth connections-http://mumble.sourceforge.net/Upcoming I wonder if the CELT dependency could be ripped out for a Maemo 5 build, or maybe someone can just port CELT once it is finally stable and actually released.

Per Qole's investigation, yes Mumble uses OpenGL. Near as I see it, this is to create an overlay for games which offers up realtime info about who is connected to the server and what game they may be playing. AFAIK, Maemo 5 includes an OpenGL ES API base for 3D rendering.(someone correct me if hardware support of the API doesn't necessarily imply full O/S support of the same) - how far off is this from the OpenGL implementation utilized in Mumble? Is it that difficult to transition that part of the code to take advantage of the ES version included in Maemo 5? Hmmm, after reading a bit I suppose if the Mumble calls don't point to components not included in ES, it should be doable. As I read it, ES retains subsets of the standard desktop OpenGL API, so not everything.

Still, OpenGL ES is certainly going to open many exciting doors as devs find ways to make use of it on the N900. If overlay or alpha channel type layering is possible to implement, who says you can't have fade in/fade out previews of say emails while you're in the browser, or while texting, or while thumbing through pictures or your music collection? Maybe allow one to click on the semi-transparent preview item which then opens itself solely over the top of the current app, blurring it beneath it as is fairly common in Maemo 5? Truly a frilly/eye-candy type of feature that isn't essential, but if the system doesn't get bogged down by it, why not? I wonder who could answer/confirm this type of ability will be readily possible with ES on the N900? Sorry, a bit off-topic.

As for why I would like Mumble - No, it isn't because I'll be playing the same games on my future N900 as I do on my PC, but rather because my friends and I do chat in Ventrilo currently even if we're not in-game. Sometimes we're doing work, sometimes homework, sometimes just surfing the web. Why can't I get into a voice-chat server which is geared towards gaming even if I'm not gaming and heckle my friends or see how they're doing? Likewise, after games end we often refer back to our Ventrilo dialogues, rehashing the previous events. The plan is to move to Murmur soon. I suppose if one solely uses Skype, they wouldn't understand why people would rather use Vent, and there's a bit of vice versa there as well.

I've wanted a Ventrilo-style or Murmur client on my tablet for awhile. Heck, I want a basic Steam (plus Steam Friends and Chat) client for my tablet too. I don't expect a Murmur port to come around for my N800, but the N900 certainly looks to have the means and makes more sense as a platform to offer it, providing a dev has need/interest. I don't know how Telepathy ties into all of this, maybe it can, maybe it can't. I certainly believe in not reinventing the wheel. It's still too early to see what the likelihood of a Murmur port is, but perhaps in time as programmers become more familiar and comfortable with Maemo 5 and have real hardware in their hands we'll see more projects not only get started at the garage, but perhaps completed.

Are you tired of reading? Good- I'm tired of writing.