[Asterisk-Users] TDM120 card?

[Steven Critchfield]

On Mon, 2004-12-20 at 01:00 -0800, Lee Howard wrote:
> On 2004.12.19 16:12 Steven Critchfield wrote:
> 
> > I also despise those who wish to compete with Digium with exactly the
> > same hardware Digium sells
> 
> Well, not only is it legally within the bounds of the GPL licensing on 
> the Zapata hardware, but I honestly expect that this kind of 
> competition is what the original designers wanted to occur by placing 
> such a license upon those designs, affecting derivative works.

Yes you are right on this narrow point.

> Competition is good for the community.  And, until the market becomes 
> saturated, I think that competition will only lead to increased 
> exposure for Asterisk.  With increased exposure all companies and 
> individuals involved with Asterisk only stand to gain - both monetarily 
> and technologically.

As you have more vendors providing exactly the same hardware, the
product becomes a commodity. Commodities can rarely compete except on
price. A downward pressure on prices are good for consumers but bad for
companies. So next time, read the full sentence before objecting.

> > and advertising based on the popularity of
> > asterisk.
> 
> I don't understand how this is a bad thing.  Not only are companies 
> like Digium and Atacomm profiting from the equity in Asterisk and the 
> exposure that it has, but countless numbers of us "community people" 
> profit from it as consultants, service providers, and such.  That's 
> what the licensing does for all of us, not just a priviledged few.

Asterisk itself doesn't make a lot of money. Hardware makes money and
subsidises asterisk development. If you drive costs down, you drive down
available subsidies for the development of asterisk. 

You may argue that the lower the cost of hardware, the more people who
get involved. I would counter with the percentage of users who actually
make the transition to developers is really low and those who would
cross over are just as likely to cross over regardless of price point.
>From that I suggest we continue investing in those who have brought us
here and know it the best. 

<snipped agreements>

> That said, I think that the design of the GPL is such that it prevents 
> people from being leaches.  So as long as the alleged abusers are not 
> violating the terms of the license, I think it's a stretch for them to 
> be considered leaches.

No, the GPL doesn't stop people from being leaches. The GPL just stops
people from taking code, modifing and then competing without sharing the
modifications.

FINALLY, I would suggest we drop this leg of the thread as it is getting
linked to a piece of hardware that I think we have all agreed is NOT a
rippoff of Digium/Zap hardware and therefore we have drifted off topic
and off subject. We need to keep from casting bad opinions on this piece
of hardware till we know what the hardware is like and what the company
behind it is like.

-- 
Steven Critchfield <critch at basesys.com>