[Asterisk-biz] Asterisk Ffork - OpenPBX.org

[Kevin P. Fleming]

Dinesh Nair wrote:

> i understand digium's need to revenue protect ABE, but if it's coming to 
> a point where a distribution of asterisk+bristuff(or anything else 
> deemed significant)+openh323 is barred, then it would impact independent 
> consultants who preinstall/preconfigure asterisk (with full source 
> provided) for their customers while still purchasing FXO/FXS/E1/T1 cards 
> from digium.

I think we're missing a major point here: the use of the trademark 
applies to the source code, not the binaries you make from it. I don't 
believe anyone has any claim to say that a particular binary is not able 
to be called 'Asterisk' because it was not made in the prescribed fashion.

We are talking only about distributing substantively modified source 
code, calling it 'Asterisk', and also taking advantage of the license 
exceptions to then distribute the binaries linked against non-GPL 
libraries. Obviously, I am not a lawyer, but I'd say that very few 
situations fall into that category, but if they do, they should talk to 
their own counsel to see what their exposure may be.

> i think this move will hurt digium in the long run. one good thing about 
> an open source project is that with the many independent software 
> developers around the world, we can make modifications and improvements 
> to the software for our customers and at the same time contributing the 
> code back to make sure that others get the same improvements.

There is no 'move' here. Nothing has changed, we are just talking about 
the situation as it exists today and trying to clarify the licensing 
terms associated with the Asterisk trademark :-)