If you have any doubt that there is tremendous interest in open source communications consider the fact that Digium has recently announced the one millionth download of Asterisk – the open-source PBX.Yes, that is “One million!”
This is a staggering number as after all; we are talking about a product which most people use as a PBX. This just shows the incredible need for this software – the brainchild of Mark Spencer.
In a press release the company made this announcement with a laundry list of other accomplishments.
TMCnet’s Tom Keating was blown away by the fact that Digium is now 24+ quarters old. In his own words, “When I heard that number - 24 quarters, I couldn't believe it's been that long. That's 6 years! Wow, how time flies!”
Yes Tom – time does fly when you are having fun. And who wouldn’t be having fun when open-source growth is just so large?
Russell Shaw too weighed in on the news mentioning how the Asterisk Appliance was a factor in hitting this milestone. Good point Russell – there seems to be a slew of open source appliances being rolled out these days.
From my perspective, it is clear that there are a number of camps looking at Asterisk as a PBX replacement or more. In some cases a person within an organization who knows Linux and has some free time, downloads Asterisk as a pet project and over time rolls it out in a department or even the company.
In other cases, resellers look to Asterisk as a way to keep a larger margin on phone systems they sell. There are also equipment companies who use Asterisk as a building block for more sophisticated or feature-rich products targeting small business, enterprise users and even service providers.
It seems Asterisk has a very bright future and many of the companies who play in this space have tremendous potential as the ecosystem of open source products and services grows and grows. Hats off to Spencer, Digium and others who have given the open source communications community a product that can expand in multiple directions and spark new waves of competition and innovation.
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