[Asterisk-Users] New to asterisk? RUN... don't walk.

[SW]

Hello,

I am not a veteran here, but would like to share my thoughts on this
subject.

True, * is opensource and freely available, but it is not a computer program
that you download and run. It is a very versatile telecommunication product
you would otherwise pay at least 100 K to buy from a telecom vendor, if not
more based on modules and usage, license hash-codes etc.

Even to try * one would need some pre requisite knowledge in telecom, if not
many years in the field. I work for a large telecom company and my specialty
is voice over broadband (or xDSL). I worked with asterisk for couple of
months now and I am amazed to see areas of telecom that * touch upon with.
Starting from Linux, to SIP, H323, DSL technologies (PPP, PPPoE, PPPoA,
DHCP, NAT), Call routing(Dial Plan), IVR, Transcoding, STUN are few areas
that one would have to master even thinking about *.

True one would know the syntax, and howtos etc, but also would have to have
the ability to troubleshoot. For last two-three months in this list, I have
not seen any newbi posting a sip trace (from a ethereal or a TCP dump) and
asking a question about it. I have seen many question for instance, asking
syntax of h.323 dial, but never seen a question asked on a h323 trace.

I think, having * openly available is like keeping an airplane openly
available in a airfield, so that anybody can try flying. Tell me how many of
us would go try and fly that airplane if we do not know how to fly :)

Point that I want to make here is simple, please try to understand what * is
all about. If you like it's features and would like it to run in a
production environment try to get some professional help. If you are
learning these technologies for fun then get educated, use tools available
to troubleshoot. Hooking up couple of phones and making a call is far from
knowing *.

Asterisk is a great product (thanks Mark and many others) and if you know
what you are doing, you can do wonders with it. Don't put it down, because
you do not have the background to understand it or work with it.

Cheers

SW



Message: 4
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 12:37:24 -0800 (PST)
From: Me <two_shoes_2002 at yahoo.com>
To: Asterisk-Users at lists.digium.com
Subject: [Asterisk-Users] New to asterisk?  RUN... don't walk.
Reply-To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com

As a newcomer to Asterisk, you will not be welcomed
with open arms.  First, you will find almost no
documentation on it's features.  Second, if you try to
ask questions, you will be flamed and pointed to
worthless how-tos and 'the wiki'.  These worthless
documents can only be useful for explaining how things
work to those already in-the-know.  Lastly, Asterisk
is so bug ridden, expect frequent segmentation faults.
 With a community so 'anti-n00b', don't expect your
problems to be fixed anytime soon.

RUN!!! Don't walk... away from Aterisk.