[Asterisk-Users] Best platform

[Mike M]

On Sat, Jun 11, 2005 at 02:30:31PM +0200, Michiel van Baak wrote:
> 
> I will have a look at it later this week since my
> workstation is now replaced by a laptop so I have some
> testing hardware :)

You're running from an upgraded Slink?  That's the beauty of Debian.

You may need to use Sid if you are using a laptop (I've got a
well-maintained cheat sheet I'll share if you want it.)  I'd try Sarge
first.  I run Sid on my notebook.
> > 
> > I used CentOS 3.4 on two recent Asterisk installs with no problems.
> 
> Isn't CentOS the free alternative for RHEL ?
Yep.
> I never liked the filesystem layout RH used.
I don't care about stuff like that - which probably indicates a lack of
sophistication :)
> But if it works for you, use it :) That's the beauty of
> freedom :)
Yep.  

I built two Asterisk boxes recently.  I started with Debian and got the
first working.  The second install on an identical machine ran into
problems.  I probably didn't execute a step properly.

I got tired of all that horsing around and decided that it was more
important to have an Asterisk box running quickly than to have a
well-maintained  Linux box. I loaded CentOS 3.4 on both boxes and it
just worked. I haven't learned the yum maintenance tool yet.  
I've been told that apt can be made to work with CentOS. 

CentOS 3.4 has a older version of Flex.  The Asterisk compile suggests
that you upgrade to a newer version.  I went to
the sourceforge Flex site and downloaded the most recent bz2 and
followed the instructions for conf/make/install. Asterisk was very happy
after that.

Several days after building the two Asterisk boxes, Debian releases the
looooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggg awaited 3.1 Sarge.  I would have 
tried it over CentOS if it were available when I needed it. I'm going to 
give Debian Sarge a try in the near future.  If they have a reasonably 
modern installer then I'll jump back into the Debian camp for my Asterisk work.

-- 
Mike