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Is the telephone industry ready for open source?

Ben Charny CNET News.com

Published: 10 Jun 2005 11:40 BST

Two standards in one network. Isn't that proof of a standards schism?
Spencer: Asterisk's goal is to try and support a lot of different protocols. Different ones are needed to solve different problems. IAX makes a really good model for the last mile.

There are already companies saying they are making an Asterisk that's better than the original. So, in effect, doesn't your commitment to open source threaten Digium's very existence?
Spencer: What you're getting at is a serious issue. When we talk about open source bringing vendor independence and empowering customers to be in control of their own industry, it does mean we have our work cut out for us. The industry will be much larger than we are, and there will probably be companies selling more significant products. We can't sit back. If we didn't play our cards right, then the Asterisk wave could go on and we'd not be part of it as much as we'd like to.

How have you managed to generate revenues with open source software?
Spencer: The debate about profits and open source versus proprietary is a moot one. You can already build a profitable company using open source. We've shown that. Now that it's there, you have to adapt your business model to the reality of the situation. Nowadays with the Internet, the idea of selling things on a per-license basis, as software's typically sold, just isn't compatible any more.

Any changes to Asterisk in the works?
Spencer: We have a business edition, which should be shipping this month. It's the same software put through more formalised testing, sold with a more traditional software license model and is for people not familiar or comfortable with open source.

Are you part of the new versions of Asterisk for proprietary operating systems, such as Microsoft and Apple Computer?
Spencer: We don't do that. But part of the reason we have a good relationship with our community is we play by open source rules. So, when we develop new software, we do make it available. I don't anticipate that the versions for proprietary operating systems represent a threat. We want to be able to adapt to support commercial and open source markets.