1. Install Required Packages

Install the debian packages required for Skype. You need some qt4 libs and some 32bit compatibility libraries:

apt-get install ia32-libs ia32-libs-gtk libqt4-core libqt4-gui

2. Get Skype

Download and install the Debian version of the Skype deb. You need to force architecture when installing:

dpkg -i --force-architecture /path/to/downloaded/skype.deb

3. Install extra i386 libs for Skype 2.1

It turns out you need some more i386 libraries installed before Skype 2.1 will work.

First, download them:

• http://packages.debian.org/sid/i386/libwrap0/download
• http://packages.debian.org/sid/i386/libgdbm3/download

To install them:

# Uncompress them in a new directory
mkdir -p /emul/ia32-linux
dpkg -X /path/to/downloaded/libwrap0.deb /emul/ia32-linux
dpkg -X /path/to/downloaded/libgdbm3.deb /emul/ia32-linux

# Add some paths to your lib search path:
echo '/emul/ia32-linux/lib' > /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ia32.conf
echo '/emul/ia32-linux/usr/lib' >> /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ia32.conf

# Re-run ldconfig
ldconfig

Then skype should be good to go; just run 'skype' from the command line, or however you normally run it.

The acid test is whether you can log in - Skype 2.1 will run without those extra libraries being present, but it will crash while logging you in if they're not there.

Sources:

• http://wiki.debian.org/skype - Doesn't have instructions for Skype 2.1 (yet?). Does have instructions for video. Suggests you should run skype as linux32 skype, it seems to run fine just as skype for me though.
• https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCL-510 - near the bottom is a list of similar instructions, my instructions don't involve copying files into directories that should only be populated by installing packages.
• http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=543448 - debian bug about including the extra libs in ia32-libs.