[Asterisk-Dev] Petition for IAX firmware

[Jared Smith]

On Wed, 2005-04-06 at 20:22 -0400, Andrew Kohlsmith wrote:
> I guess; but in my mind Digium improved upon the Zaptel design and closed it.  
> Not exactly what the original poster was getting at.

You have a point, but I for one am glad they're building good hardware.
Let's not forget that the money Digium makes from selling hardware cards
(even if they are "closed") helps sponsor Asterisk development.  I think
the recent announcement about Kevin being hired (congrats Kevin!) is
possible, for the most part, because Digium continues to sell their
hardware cards.  

There are other Zaptel-compatible cards out there on the market.  If
you're against Digium making money, then send your business to another
vendor.  One of the manufacturers (you know who you are) was even
gracious enough to send me a card to play with.  But if Digium's design
were completely open and easy to manufacture, Asterisk wouldn't be what
it is today.  It may not be ideal for everyone, but in all fairness,
it's not a bad situation for most of us.

In short, I'm willing to pay for Digium cards because it makes Asterisk
better.  

-Jared

P.S.  Now that we've wandered completely off topic, let me return to the
topic of IAX in firmware.  I can't wait for the day that IAX is so
popular and wide-spread that vendors are itching to put IAX in their
firmware.  To that goal, kudos to those who are documenting the IAX
protocol and making it easier for us mere mortals to understand!