[Asterisk-Users] Digium should develop and sell just Dummy card. For timing...

[Andrew Kohlsmith]

> It seems you are fairly new to this list. I only see postings going back
> about a month from you.  So with this bit of looking up, I am wondering
> if you have bothered looking back in the archives at the fact that all
> of this has been addressed in the past. The only reason you haven't seen
> someone from Digium getting into this every few months when one of you
> lazy newbies get on the list and can't be bothered to look back through
> the archives is because it would quickly get to the point of always
> answering the same stupid questions to a select small lazy group.

That's the point of a FAQ.  I've read a half dozen FAQs about Asterisk and 
none say "Digium's offical response is X" -- they all hint at it just like 
I did.

I've been on IRC for about 6 weeks now, and even there there is no offical 
response, just a lot of hemming and hawing and speculation, just as I had 
done.  

I have a pretty damned good idea why they're using the timing source they 
are.  My pretty damned good idea is, however, just speculation, just as 
every other response I've seen.  I wasn't asking the question originally, I 
was answering Anton's question.

If this was addressed officially some time in the past, I sincerely 
apologize for bashing Digium's lack of response.  However if all that has 
been done in the past was this speculation and hand-waving, then my point 
stands.  It takes a minute to put it in the FAQ and perhaps even the 
Handbook; most newbies do read that stuff, so why not help 'em out?

> Some one else here has mentioned the quality of software design due to
> the need for hardware timing. This should be addressed by the fact that
> many tools are using hardware timing. Mp3 players use the sound device
> as a timing source. They can only be feed so much data at a time as it
> is being serviced. When you can feed it more, you do. In the case of the
> mp3s on voip only systems, the mp3 player no longer is directly coupled
> to a device that can control speed. The mp3 player is dumping data as
> quickly as it can, and as asterisk tosses it into the correct format and
> gets it out on the ethernet wire, it can then service more data. In the
> case of Digium hardware, or the appropriate dummy drivers, we get a
> timing source to directly couple to the channels.

I agree -- I think what that particular poster's point was was that there 
are already sufficiently jitter-free timing sources in the PC and that it 
seemed assinine to add another for a paltry 1KHz (IIRC).  He has a point, 
but (again, speculation) Asterisk boxes may or may not have RTCs or even 
USB ports, and using a processor-specific timer is even worse for 
portability.  By locking on to an add-on card that can be added to any 
system with a PCI bus, Asterisk gains portability.

And again, where is the official Digium response?  This is all speculation.  
I was just putting out a request to end this stupidity and have an official 
response so everyone can point to it and say "that's why."

I didn't think it'd end up in this mini flame war.

Regards,
Andrew