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

[Daniel Pocock]

On 14/11/12 19:54, Paul Belanger wrote:
> 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?

If it is easy to remove (e.g. removing some subtree and disabling a
configure option), then Asterisk 11 would potentially be packaged
without it.  If it is not removable, then there is a risk that Asterisk
11 does not get packaged officially at all.


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