Create a file in /usr/local/bin/skype and insert

#!/bin/bash
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype

Finally, make it executable by sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/skype
Use this file to start Skype from now on. Done.

But not for me. Skype refused to eat it: ERROR: ld.so: object '/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
Until I finally found this one here.

Just to cut a long story short, here is why: all the other solutions work for 32bit Linux only — but hey, I do not have any of my old laptop’s potential to be wasted — I am running 64bit Ubuntu (tested with version 9.10 and 10.10 64bit). And with a minor tweak, the fix will work for you, too.

Install the video4linux libraries:

 sudo apt-get install lib32v4l-0

And change /usr/local/bin/skype to

LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype

Its just about the “32” — and one good example more of why you should put meaningful error messages in whatever software!

Thanks Eoin Murphy.