[Asterisk-doc] Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills

[Dr. Rich Murphey]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: asterisk-doc-admin@lists.digium.com 
> [mailto:asterisk-doc-admin@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of 
> Olle E. Johansson
> Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 8:52 AM
> To: asterisk-doc@lists.digium.com
> Subject: Re: [Asterisk-doc] Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
> 
> jim@digitalchemy.ca wrote:
> 
> > I understand what you are saying, and you make some very 
> good points.
> > 
> > So what if we do something like this?:
> > 
> > Although this book will tend to focus on Linux-based 
> implementations, 
> > it is theoretically possible to compile Asterisk on any UNIX-like 
> > operating system. Most notably, install packages for BSD have been 
> > around for some time, and an OS-X package has recently made an 
> > appearance. The main development effort however (especially 
> the PSTN 
> > hardware support) is focused on the Linux i386 platform. 
> Also, because 
> > the Linux version has been around the longest, you will find more 
> > people in the community will be able to assist you with 
> support issues if you are running on Linux.
> > 
> > Because of the aforementioned lack of Digium driver support on non 
> > Linux platforms,  you will be limited to using VoIP protocols only, 
> > writing your own drivers, or paying for custom drivers from Digium. 
> > Also, some applications (such as MeetMe conference) require 
> access to 
> > timers that are currently implemented only on Linux systems.
> > 
> > The FreeBSD operating system is attracting a lot of attention by 
> > developers. Asterisk is running smoothly on that platform with the 
> > above mentioned limitations. It is safe to say that BSD 
> support will 
> > improve
> > -- there are many enthusiastic, brilliant folks who would prefer to 
> > run BSD than Linux.
> > 
> > 
> "Install packages" sounds like another distribution. CVS head 
> works on FreeBSD!
> Mark has done a lot of work to support FreeBSD, so it's covered.
> 
> There is work on getting timer on FreeBSD, have beta driver 
> now. As soon as we have it in CVS, I'll suggest another change :-)
> 
> /O

Here's some words about FreeBSD that should be safe to say.  As Olle said,
stability of the Asterisk server on *BSD took a big step forward this week,
and it appears that the remaining issues are going to be easier to resolve.
So hopefully things will be going smoothly for the server.  

Digium's Asterisk server runs on FreeBSD, OpenBSD and OS X, but the drivers
do not yet support these platforms.  FreeBSD's 'ports' provides drivers for
the most recent stable release of Asterisk, and work is progressing on
integrating those drivers into Digium's releases.  

Support for non-linux platforms is provided by third-parties, and as a
result there are various limitations on features, drivers or release dates
vs Asterisk on Linux.  As that support becomes integrated into Digium's
releases, these limitations will go away.

Cheers,
Rich