Here is the small script that I called skype-wrapper.sh. The original skype executable will be linked to a script that only starts skype if no other instance is running (here a softlink).
I have renamed the executable: mv /usr/bin/skype /usr/bin/skype.bin So here is what I have done to prevent Skype from starting another instance: So doesn anyone know of a better solution to fix dual instancing of Skype? and that's the real purpose of my question. Maybe it will rise awareness and cause a fix. So in an approach to provide a workaround I will post what I've done to prevent this behaviour. The annoyance continues to exist for the last three updates at least. I thought this would be fixed soon but neither Canonical nor Microsoft care enough. To make things worse: On the next regular start of Skype it you will have to re-enter your saved password, due to the 'Sign in failure'. There is another instance already running. The way it is now, Skype starts a second instance, which promptly tells you it can't log in. You accidentally click on the launcher again. Suppose you have Skype for Ubuntu running. Just a little unnecessary annoyance to fix here: Version 4.0+ will be included in the universe repositories for Quantal (Ubuntu 12.10). This makes the question obsolete for every one who installed Skype directly from the website. This problem is finally fixed with Skype 4.0.0.7 for Linux.
