[asterisk-users] Sangoma vs Digium: (was Re: ping too)

[shadowym]

I disagree with any argument for or against Digium in support of Asterisk as
much as I do for or against Sangoma or Rhino or one of the Chinese knock
offs in support of Asterisk.  Digium uses the open source community to
create better commercial software products and their licensing policies
reflect that whereby they own the code anyone contributes so it's not like
they don't benefit if you don't buy their hardware.

I say buy the best product for the job whether that be Digium or Sangoma or
Rhino or whatever.  Nobody should feel obligated to buy one over the other
for any reason whatsoever.  

Nobody is saying that the community should not be grateful for what Digium
has and continues to do.  Nobody should be saying that the community should
be expressing that gratitude by buying Digium hardware either.  Just as the
community should not be asking Digium to remove their licensing restrictions
to express their gratitude for the thousands of individuals not affiliated
with Digium that test and document and file bug reports and submit patches
for Asterisk every day.

My 2bits.

-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Fredrickson [mailto:creslin at digium.com] 
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 8:09 AM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: Re: [asterisk-users] Sangoma vs Digium: (was Re: ping too)

Brian West wrote:
> Sangoma has contributed to Asterisk in the past and they still do.  They 
> also have contributed to Yate, FreeSWITCH and various other software 
> that is capable of using their hardware.  This argument of Digium vs 
> Sangoma is very emotional for some.  I see it as competition is good and 
> drives innovation.  Digium can't take every bit of credit for Asterisk, 
> you have to remember the community has a large part in making Asterisk 
> as popular as it is.  I know their is hostility directed at anyone that 
> uses non-Digium hardware by some folks and their shouldn't be.  Its an 
> open market and an open platform.  Rhino makes hardware that plugs into 
> zaptel but yet I don't see their drivers in the zaptel repo... I don't 
> see many of the third party hardware drivers in the zaptel repo.

Not to ignite any fires, but I don't think I've *ever* knowingly 
received a patch to libpri or chan_zap from them.  And I've fixed a few 
protocol related bugs in libpri for people with Sangoma cards.  It'd be 
nice if they at the very least supported the protocol stacks and zaptel 
channel driver they use to make money off their cards.

Matthew Fredrickson

> 
> 
> /b
> On Oct 5, 2007, at 7:51 AM, Steve Murphy wrote:
> 
>> Oh, Julian, I'd imagine what I'm about to say will fuel some flames!
>>
>> Here's a fairly powerful argument for all you asterisk users, as to why
>> you
>> should purchase a Digium product vs. a Sangoma: Because Digium uses a
>> chunk
>> of the purchase money to support Asterisk. And Sangoma DOES NOT. Digium
>> employs
>> several developers specifically to maintain and improve Asterisk.
>> Sangoma DOES NOT. While they may maintain and improve their own versions
>> of the various drivers, THEY DO NOT SHARE THEIR SOFTWARE. Matt F. told
>> me last week we haven't seen ANYTHING from them for a LONG TIME, with
>> respect to the zaptel drivers. If they have been contributing patches,
>> they are disguising their association with Sangoma.
>>
>> Don't get me wrong. I AM a Digium employee! A software Developer to be
>> specific,
>> an Asterisk developer to be precise. So, I AM highly biased towards
>> Digium!
>>
>> Digium has a harder job than Sangoma with respect to Asterisk. While
>> Digium
>> takes a chunk of its revenue, and uses it to maintain and improve
>> Asterisk (not just the drivers), Sangoma doesn't, and it gives them a
>> competitive edge.
>>
>> So, for all you folks who have bought Digium, I personally thank you!
>> You have helped Asterisk, and you have personally helped ME. If you have
>> long-range business or interest in Asterisk, you are indirectly
>> contributing to its growth and improvement when you buy Digium products
>> & services.
>>
>> murf
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Steve Murphy
>> Software Developer
>> Digium
>> _______________________________________________
>> --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com--
>>
>> asterisk-users mailing list
>> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>>    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> _______________________________________________
> --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com--
> 
> asterisk-users mailing list
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users


-- 
Matthew Fredrickson
Software/Firmware Engineer
Digium, Inc.