[asterisk-users] Trixbox vs. Custom install

[Stephen Bosch]

Lee Jenkins wrote:
> Stefano Corsi wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I'm following the thread "Asterisk at Now vs Trixbox", and I have a
>> similar question: if someone is going to install Asterisk, FreePBX and
>> A2Billing, should you advice him/her to use Trixbox ... or a custom
>> "step by step" installation on a distribution of his/her choice?
>>
> 
> I started by trying out Asterisk at Home.  I found that learning Asterisk
> internals was a bit more challenging trying to read and understand the
> A at H scripts.
> 
> Eventually, I ended up writing a Windows GUI of my own to help learn
> Asterisk.
> 
> The nice things about GUI's in my opinion is that routine chores such as
> setting up extensions, dialing extensions, hunt groups, etc. are less
> likely to contain scripting bugs or typos.  The downside from what I
> gather with many GUI's is that the friendly abstraction that insulates
> you from the nuts and bolts of scripting and configuration also makes it
> difficult to customize the dialplan in some cases.

It also makes troubleshooting problems a handful-and-a-half. And woe is
you if you need kernel customizations to make your hardware work.

I would say this -- if all you're ever going to use is VOIP trunks, by
all means use Trixbox. It's great for that. But if you're using any kind
of PSTN hardware (TDM cards, Sangoma) just stick with straight Asterisk.

I've just had my second go at Trixbox (version 2.0 now) and after
wasting a bunch of time with hardware problems, I'm going to replace it
with a generic install.

Here's another reason to seriously consider generic: the userbase is
larger, AND they're more likely to know what they're talking about when
a problem does arise. Trixbox attracts a lot of amateurs who are
themselves new to IP telephony; that's why they choose it.

> Of course, you should take this with a grain of salt since I tried A at H
> (now TrixBox) for a total of 2 weeks before gutting it.

There is a good reason people don't stick with it for long.

-Stephen-