So you dont mind making open source software but you want the companies that use it to pay you for it. That’s pretty hypocritical isn’t it? Just because someone figures out how to make money and is not wrong of bad. It’s simply jealousy on your part that you can’t figure out how.

[WM: You missed the point in the sentence you’ve quoted. Our concern was companies reselling open source products of others without contributing back in some way. We are not at all concerned with companies using our products. All of our products always will be free for use by end-users whether they are individuals or companies.]

[WM: There are ways to address shortcomings without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We happen to like Asterisk and all the folks that have and are developing it. That’s not to say that there aren’t issues that perhaps haven’t been addressed previously because of the project’s prior focus. We’ll leave CallWeaver for discussion another day.]

[WM: Thank you!!]

I’m all about the book and WM’s comment about publishers get about 90% is probably true. So what about a PDF that *you* create and that *you* host. Charge say $10. Everybody would be happy then.

I *love* seeing a new post from Nerd Vittles in my RSS feed because it means that I get to do something new and exciting with my Asterisk boxes. Thanks for all the time and effort you put in to your tutorials!

I have bought nearly every asterisk book there is out there, but how much of that money goes in to developers? There should be a way (other than donation) to bring some money to the developers (perhaps a documentation/add-ons/installation CD that one could Buy)… Just something to say to the boss, hey let’s buy X thing to support the developers of our great PBX system!

Anyway, Ward, let us know how the FreePBX Open Telephony Training Seminar goes, since some of us are too poor to go and our bosses too cheap to send us LOL.

[WM: Thanks for your note AND your help. The problem with books (aside from being old technology) is that someone has to write them and the publishers get about 90%.]

But seriously when it comes to donating my problem had been and might have been for others that I am installing this for my office and if there was something, anything really, offered along with the donation then I could get my employer involved in the contribution which would be more I would hope then just me giving something. But for me to tell them I need money for the new phone system and then hand them back a receipt for a donation as much as I understand it is more than the right thing for them to do it would not go over well.

I think the previous idea of a book would be a great idea as well I can always get the money to purchase any documentation I need when starting a project. But if there was a quick reference sheet or something that came with a donation of $10 I could at least get that every time I updated one of our offices. Just a thought…. Please don’t lock up to much stuff though I use this at home to.

With all due respect, I take exception to your thinly-veiled attack on Fonality. Besides the obvious contribution back to the community by maintaining (with real American dollars) the trixbox project. Yes, it competes with your own Asterisk-based project, but let’s try to maintain a little perspective here. This contribution back to Asterisk is not trivial in monetary terms or in the way that it competes with our own for-fee version.

I find it interesting that you slam us in a sideways fashion – even to the extent of totally mis-characterizing our business as "a hosted solution". That is totally untrue and you know it. And yet, you then lament the absence of professionalism in the Asterisk world by saying "What’s missing is management vision coupled with a well-trained sales force to get the message across to corporations and government organizations." Well, duh, that pretty much describes us here at Fonality. We are not "takers" as you so churlishly describe, but vital parts of the entire Asterisk universe, providing real, solid value to our customers every single day, thank you very much.

At the end of the day, we here at Fonality are at least as much a part of the Asterisk community as anyone else, and we really don’t need this kind of character assasination being promulgated by you. If we’ve done anything wrong – besides developing enhancements to Asterisk and making money by selling turnkey systems to customers – then spell it out. Last time I checked, the GPL still applies to Asterisk and your strange comments about charging license fees to use GPL code do not merit serious discussion.

If you really want to start a discussion about licensing rights, though, let’s discuss the whole dual-licensing aspect of Asterisk itself. Now *that* is an interesting and valid discussion.

[WM: You’ve read considerably more into my article than is there. My comments were not directed at any particular individual or organization. Feel free to correct me if I am mistaken, but I think Fonality does charge license fees for certain products that include lots of GPL code including Asterisk. So why exactly would that not merit discussion? And how many lines of code has Fonality contributed back to the Asterisk project? Certainly the spirit of the GPL would suggest that embellished code is supposed to be made publicly available, not just to folks that purchase the embellished products.]

I doubt I can make it to the first FreePBX training event but I really want to be there. Good luck and have fun!

WAudette….