[asterisk-users] New Embedded Distro

[Michael Graves]

On Sun, 07 Oct 2007 18:25:36 -0500, Darrick Hartman wrote:

>A few comments on this as one of the Astlinux developers.  Asterisk 1.4 
>is and has been in a beta branch for some time.  The developers feel 
>that while 1.4 is the future, in many cases 1.2 is a much more stable 
>platform.  Also while there hasn't been a release with significant 
>changes recently, there has been significant action behind the scene.
>
>Askozia looks like it has made a huge amount of improvements and changes 
>since it was first introduced.  There are significant differences 
>between the two platforms.  Each project has different goals, different 
>licenses and different strengths.
>
>Astlinux is built on a very customizable framework that can allow it to 
>be used for other applications besides Asterisk.  We have several 
>supported vpn's, full firewall support, and a published development 
>environment.  There's support for Digium, Rhino and Sangoma zaptel 
>hardware.
>
>Askozia appears to be centered around the GUI.  While that's not 
>necessarily a bad thing, an experience Asterisk user may want to 
>manipulate the raw config files.  Networking support appears to be 
>limited.
>
>In any case, I applaud the author of Askozia for his efforts.  Taking on 
>a project of this size takes a considerable effort.  In many cases it's 
>a volunteer effort.
>
Astlinux has been very good for me for over two years. In my
application its principle role is Asterisk, the various VPN, firewall
and other features not required. Normally I would not be attracted to a
GUI at all. Witness the fact that I have no interest in Trixbox.
However, the m0n0wall GUI has been very effective in m0n0wall and
FreeNAS. If the Asterisk implementation of same is reasonably flexible
then it would be a significant advantage over Astlinux.

Time will tell. Each will no doubt have its place. Asterisk on small
format hardware is an important frontier. Ease of use for typical users
is also important.

Michael
--
Michael Graves                           mgraves at pixelpower.com
Sr. Product Specialist                          www.pixelpower.com
Pixel Power Inc.                                 mgraves at mstvp.com

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