[Asterisk-Dev] Is there a need for a DS3 channel/driver?

[John Todd]

At 12:25 AM -0800 on 11/21/04, Chris A. Icide wrote:
>On 02:39 PM 11/20/2004, C. Maj wrote:
>>It's a tree-falling-in-the-woods dilemna.  Where's the
>>evidence ?  If you know these implementations exist, and
>>you've got proof, then just force them out of the closet
>>already.  I mean, if they are such giant entities, what's it
>>going to kill them to let everybody know that they are using
>>Asterisk ?  Otherwise, simply being suspicious of silent
>>portions that nobody knows about is evidence of nothing.
>>
>
>I suspect the 'entities' using such implementations are doing so to 
>make money.  Given that, there is a term known as 'barrier to 
>entry'.  This term basically refers to the 'cost' that a competitor 
>needs to expend to achieve a equal position in the market you are 
>targeting.  Proprietary hardware and code (as well as the fact that 
>they are using some open-source code) is something that falls into 
>said 'barrier to entry'.  If a company out to make a profit creates 
>hardware/code to support their offering, its only common sense that 
>they are going to keep that code private.  Most large companies (and 
>probably all public companies, as an officer who leaks proprietary 
>information would be in trouble from the board of directors, and 
>liable to a suit from shareholders, if they can prove said leak 
>caused damage to the company's stock) out to make a profit don't 
>care about the fact that they are using and modifying open-source 
>code, they just care about the profit margin.
>
>Perhaps Digium could change their licensing requirements, and allow 
>use of the system for non-profit, research, development, and testing 
>for free, but require a license fee for commercial usage of the 
>system.  However, to put any hurt on the large companies, you would 
>have to charge a large enough fee that small companies like nufone, 
>voicepulse, voipjet, and all the other asterisk based commercial 
>services out there would be severely hampered by the fee.
>
>-Chris

I am uncertain if the barrier-to-entry fear is the majority of the 
reason we don't see overt participation from "big" 
telco/hardware/etc. vendors.  I think that certainly is a relevant 
issue, but the biggest impediment is simply trying to wade through 
the bureaucratic problems of "giving away" any code that was done on 
the company's dime.  It's almost impossible, even in small companies 
- the managers, lawyers, executive vice-presidents, etc. all need to 
have explanations, and any one of them can FUD the concept to death, 
which usually happens.  This is not a problem that is specific to 
Asterisk, a fact to which any OSS-friendly developer can attest.

Most of these larger companies also have strict rules on what can be 
said in public forums; so strict, that most employees just don't say 
anything, ever, for fear of losing their jobs or being sued into the 
ground by their employers.

I don't think Digium's license needs revising; that dead horse has 
been beaten enough on this list and others.

JT