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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=NL-BE style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Hello,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=NL-BE style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>My question is about which Linux distribution to choose for
Asterisk. (/me holds breath) OK, hopefully you’re still reading,
because whatever you were thinking now, you’re thinking wrong! ;)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>First of all, I want to make clear that I have read EVERY
message and reply that I could possibly find about this topic, so that includes
the dozens of messages here on the Asterisk mailinglists, on the Digum forum,
and even Google search results!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Still, my question was not answered! Mainly because
the same answer always came back: “Use the one you are most comfortable
with”. Well, I already knew that (linux is linux), but it doesn’t
apply to my situation <st1:PersonName ProductID="at all" w:st="on">at all</st1:PersonName>!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Let’s make things clear and concrete now:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In my professional life, I work as a windows system &
network administrator and as a developer on the .NET platform, and have a long
and extensive experience with telecom and VoIP. Working for a telecom
company, I now have accepted the challenge to extend our offering with
Asterisk. During the past 6 months, I have learned as much as I possibly
could about the Asterisk PBX, successfully set up a complete test environment,
developed IVR systems, and now we feel the time is right to put these services
into production. BUT, before we can go live, one important problem
remains: as I said, I am a Windows guy, I have a VERY profound knowledge of
Windows and manage almost 20 Windows 2003 Servers that run mission-critical
applications on a 365/24/7 basis, and support a large number of Windows
applications and Web services (some of the applications I have developed are
used by more than 25000 users every day!) Why am I telling this? Well,
because I want to make it clear that I am perfectly happy with my platform/OS
(windows), and have no intent whatsoever to ever change servers or application
platforms to linux (let alone my workstation). What’s more, I have
NEVER come in to contact with linux/unix before, so I have never worked with
ANY distribution.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Having explained all this, it should sound logical that I
chose the AsteriskWin32 version for learning Asterisk. Of course, I
realize that we can’t put any production system on AsteriskWin32…
So before we can go live with Asterisk servers and services, this last issue
remains to be resolved: what Linux distribution should I choose (and learn)?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>As I explained, I see Linux merely as a “necessary
evil” (because of my lack of knowledge) for running Asterisk. So I’m
asking about the best linux distribution only to put up asterisk servers. I’m
NOT asking for the easiest one or so (I always enjoy challenges and learning
new things), I’m asking for the best choice to build a carrier grade
telecom system, having to support thousands of users each and every day. So
it must be reliable and easy to maintain and upgrade. We are going to use
Asterisk in our own datacenters (supporting nation-wide services), as well as in
servers that we sell to corporations and callcenters for use as an advanced
PBX/CTI system).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>So it should be clear that I’m not talking about a
hobby or home deployment here. Our central asterisk systems for example will
have to manage DS3 or (lots of) E1 trunks…<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>If you need more information, I am happy to supply it. I
appreciate your time and am hoping for some good suggestions and arguments
which will lead me to the correct choice for now and for the years to come.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Thanks!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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