Hello list, I just learned about this project when reading an interview to Mark Spencer on VON Magazine.
Frankly, I have only read a few pages from the OpenPBX Wiki and maybe I should study more before asking these questions but I'm high on caffeine and it's December 31st so here I'm shooting!! Please forgive me if these questions are answered by the Wiki or other documentation. I have been playing with Asterisk for some time and it's a good project but I have some issues with its architecture. Specifically, one of the problems I see with the Asterisk architecture is that it seems to be a BIG LUMP of features. For example, "primitive" operations (applications in Asterisk's parlance) such as Answer, Dial, or Hangup, are on the same level as voice mail applications or agent queue operations. It could be called semi-monolithic: it has the concept of "modules" but they are not nicely layered in areas of concern or a good low-high level separation. (At least that's how I wish it were). On the other hand, Asterisk has an enormous wealth of libraris for handling protocols, codecs, etc. which can be used as I understand this project pretends. (not reinventing the wheel). I'd like to know whether OpenPBX attempts to solve these issues: * Layered telephony API (with primitive telephony operations) * Move high-level stuff like "voice mail" to an application level which is based on the former API. * Maybe implementing a good analogy to MVIP/H.100 streams. (I confess I'm not an Asterisk expert and maybe it already exists) * With the above features, it could be easier to implement "drivers" for different telephony hardware (not just Digium). * A real scripting language (the new AEL in Asterisk is a good way towards that goal, but it could be another language, or a pluggable one.) * An GOOD event model, to which high level applications can subscribe. (Asterisk's AGI/Fast-AGI and Manager API... kind of overlap in some areas, and suffer somewhat from the "non-layered" architecture) * Well-documented code. (Asterisk code is kind of terse in this area, making it difficult for other people to contribute). * Good user/admin documentation, which can be studied without having to evolve an hyper-hyperlinking section in our brains. (Wiki is a good tool for documenting a project's progress and for reference, which is not the same as good documentation from which one can learn anything). * I've seen a mention about a SOAP protocol in OpenPBX. Be careful!! I've worked quite a lot with SOAP, and it can quickly become in a very heavy load to bear, it requires some precious CPU (which can be better used for DSP in Asterisk/OpenPBX. I'd be inclined to develop/extend the simple text protocols that Asterisk already has, and perhaps then implement a more complex XML protocol on top of that. OK I have more to ask but i'll stop here before I get flamed. It's not me, it's the caffeine writing! BarZ _______________________________________________ Openpbx-dev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openpbx.org/mailman/listinfo/openpbx-dev
