[asterisk-users] Looking for a good lightweight Linux softPhone

[Atis Lezdins]

On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 7:07 PM, Jeff LaCoursiere <jeff at jeff.net> wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, 14 Nov 2008, Gordon Henderson wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 14 Nov 2008, Tilghman Lesher wrote:
>>
>> > On Friday 14 November 2008 09:19:22 Gordon Henderson wrote:
>> >> On Fri, 14 Nov 2008, Tzafrir Cohen wrote:
>> >>> On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 02:02:14PM +0000, Gordon Henderson wrote:
>> >>>> I used to use IDEFISK, but since it was taken over/renamed into Zoiper
>> >>>> it's been really hard work - now I'm told that they won't support my
>> >>>> chosen distribution - Debian Etch - the current stable version of Debian
>> >>>> I prefer.
>> >>>
>> >>> Ekiga is a bit nicer for an end-user. Twinkle is probably what you'd
>> >>> want for testing and such.
>> >>
>> >> What I really want is a command-like dialer. Call me a boring old fart,
>> >> but I'm utterly fed-up with the current bloatware out there.
>> >>
>> >> So with the IAX library and some time I might just come up with something.
>> >
>> > Technically, you can use Asterisk as a softphone, by using chan_alsa or
>> > another console channel driver.  The interface is nothing if not command-line
>> > oriented.
>>
>> Maybe the word "bloatware" got lost in the trans-atlantic translation...
>>
>> If I had a command-line program where I could type:
>>
>>    call 07712191046
>>
>> then I'd be happy. Being able to use the arrow keys to adjust volume would
>> be a bonus, but I already have a command-line mixer program.
>>
>> Gordon (the luddite)
>>
>
> Hmm, reading the thread I assumed you were already running asterisk, since
> you did actually post on the asterisk user mailing list.  As was pointed
> out you can use the asterisk command line interface to do just what you
> are suggesting (assuming you have a compatible sound card), and you could
> even wrap it in a simple shell script so you have what you say you want:
>
> call <number>
>
> Regardless, if you are planning to write an IAX lib based command line
> tool you will need an asterisk server to connect to to place your calls.
> I am not understanding where you think the bloatware is coming into play.
>
> So are you sitting at the console of the machine running asterisk or is
> this something that you would use from a standalone *nix workstation that
> would use the net to route your call?
>

A small shell/perl/whatever script that takes care of minimized
asterisk config could really kick ass.

I wonder does anybody feels up to the challenge to create/maintain it,
and push to common distros.

Regards,
Atis

-- 
Atis Lezdins,
VoIP Project Manager / Developer,
atis at iq-labs.net
Skype: atis.lezdins
Cell Phone: +371 28806004
Cell Phone: +1 800 7300689
Work phone: +1 800 7502835