[asterisk-dev] Asterisk and distributions (Debian, Fedora, etc)

[Paul Belanger]

On 12-11-14 12:02 PM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>
>
> Following up from the SIP stack discussion, I think it may be useful to
> have a separate thread to get comments from people about the
> relationship of Asterisk with distributions.
>
> I give some Debian examples, but this is just as valid for any other
> distribution.
>
>
> Some of the issues that come to mind:
>
> - release cycles/cut off dates (e.g. Debian was `frozen' a few months
> ago, no new Asterisk packages will be allowed until the next `stable'
> release in 2 years, although updated packages can be distributed in
> backports)
>
> - maintenance cycles (e.g. Debian releases need 3 years of security
> updates, RHEL needs 7, which is a long time for VoIP)
>
> - interaction with the packaging process (e.g. more people joining as
> Debian maintainer, which is a stepping-stone to becoming a full Debian
> Developer)
>
> - interaction with the support process (e.g. using Debian's bug tracker)
>
> - addressing all of the above issues for dependencies, e.g. if using
> libsrtp or resiprocate, how to make sure that distributions are all
> carrying the version required by Asterisk?
>
> This last issue (dependencies) is sometimes perceived as a major pain in
> itself - but if it is planned from the beginning and co-ordinated with
> other projects, it can be managed and it can work favorably.
>
> At the end of the day, distributions bring a lot of users, and if
> everything is planned well, then users don't have to ask questions about
> dependencies or how to install.  This saves valuable support time.
>
> I've worked with companies that just do telecoms and they don't mind
> having bespoke servers for their apps, nor do they object to paying
> fees for a freelance developer to fine tune everything.  However, as
> more and more IT managers want VoIP, they don't want to spend time
> building anything from source, they want the convenience of installing
> with apt-get or yum, just like they do with Apache or Postfix or Mysql.
>
> Having some clarity about these relationships may give insights about
> the priorities for the SIP stack question.
>
So, lets us the following example right now with Asterisk 11, since we 
are already embedding pjproject in Asterisk and from what I understand 
it is a core dependency.

I haven't talked with debian-voip yet, but I'm sure there is already 
some concern with packaging Asterisk 11 for Debian.  IIRC, nothing has 
been started yet and I suspect having pjproject embedded into Asterisk 
is going to be a hot topic.

Would you expect distributions to remove the dependency on pjproject? Or 
worst, not package Asterisk because of policy?

It would also be good to hear what Fedora's plans are too.

-- 
Paul Belanger | PolyBeacon, Inc.
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