Came across an announcement that OpenSIPS is forking from the popular open source OpenSER solution. OpenSIPS (Open SIP Server) became active today, with its first release (OpenSIPS 1.4.0). I found it a bit surprising that someone is forking OpenSER, since it's a very powerful SIP routing platform. I recently mentioned how OpenSER can be used to bridge Asterisk with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.
So what is OpenSIPS about? Well, let me include some snippets from the announcement made today:
OpenSER History:
----------------
Voice System started the OpenSER project with a vision of running an
open project that will deliver a professional software. Along the years
Voice System was the main contributor and sustainer of the OpenSER
project, organizing conferences, events and tutorials, all aiming to
consolidate OpenSER as a top solution for industry VoIP.
OpenSER Issues:
---------------
In the past time, several critical problems related to OpenSER project
were identified by us:
- the need for a new reliable release - delayed or low-quality releases
are affecting the credibility of the project
- degradation of the project quality - testing, performance measurements
and code quality control are overlooked
- lack of the control, management and coordination of the project -
critical project issues could not be handled or solved
OpenSIPS Solutions:
--------------------
OpenSIPS is a continuation of the OpenSER project - we have a moral
obligation to develop and deliver the high quality and reliable software
we envisioned when starting OpenSER.
1) a 6 months release cycle, but with no compromise for the technical
issues
2) extensive testing and performance measurements before each major release
3) contributions are guaranteed to be answered and integrated (if
accepted) in less than 1 month
4) code review, architecture control and integrated design for software
quality
5) technical management with a strict developer hierarchy and developer
cooperation to prevent deadlocks or un-availabilities
6) intellectual honesty by having decisions taken on value-based
criteria and arguments.
_________________
Ok, I get that they're frustrated with how slow the OpenSER releases are, but is forking OpenSER the solution? I like the 6 month release cycle, code review, and architecture control. Just who is behind this effort? Is it simply VoIP enthusiasts, or is there some corporate backing going on here? And if so, what is the agenda?
Well, whoever is running OpenSIPS, it seems like someone was frustrated not only with the slow releases, but also the slow feature additions. They added these new features that are absent from OpenSER:
So what is OpenSIPS about? Well, let me include some snippets from the announcement made today:
OpenSER History:
----------------
Voice System started the OpenSER project with a vision of running an
open project that will deliver a professional software. Along the years
Voice System was the main contributor and sustainer of the OpenSER
project, organizing conferences, events and tutorials, all aiming to
consolidate OpenSER as a top solution for industry VoIP.
OpenSER Issues:
---------------
In the past time, several critical problems related to OpenSER project
were identified by us:
- the need for a new reliable release - delayed or low-quality releases
are affecting the credibility of the project
- degradation of the project quality - testing, performance measurements
and code quality control are overlooked
- lack of the control, management and coordination of the project -
critical project issues could not be handled or solved
OpenSIPS Solutions:
--------------------
OpenSIPS is a continuation of the OpenSER project - we have a moral
obligation to develop and deliver the high quality and reliable software
we envisioned when starting OpenSER.
1) a 6 months release cycle, but with no compromise for the technical
issues
2) extensive testing and performance measurements before each major release
3) contributions are guaranteed to be answered and integrated (if
accepted) in less than 1 month
4) code review, architecture control and integrated design for software
quality
5) technical management with a strict developer hierarchy and developer
cooperation to prevent deadlocks or un-availabilities
6) intellectual honesty by having decisions taken on value-based
criteria and arguments.
_________________
Ok, I get that they're frustrated with how slow the OpenSER releases are, but is forking OpenSER the solution? I like the 6 month release cycle, code review, and architecture control. Just who is behind this effort? Is it simply VoIP enthusiasts, or is there some corporate backing going on here? And if so, what is the agenda?
Well, whoever is running OpenSIPS, it seems like someone was frustrated not only with the slow releases, but also the slow feature additions. They added these new features that are absent from OpenSER:
- dialog profiling extension
- local route for internally generated requests
- dial plan / translation module
- general NAT traversal module (for non-invite signalling)
- peering and rate limit (traffic shaping) modules
Enhancements like:
- SRV load balancing (based on weights)
- nonce re-usage verification (safer authentication)
- and bug fixing - code, specs and functionality bugs.
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The OpenSER press release read almost the same way when they forked from SER.
I guess OpenSER found out it is harder than they thought.
-Matt
The announcement is more than confusing, as most of the new features are present in openser (kamailio). kamailio 1.4.0 will be released on the 7th of August. For the list of the new modules, you can consult:
http://www.kamailio.org/docs/modules/1.4.x/
http://voip-info.org/wiki/view/OpenSER#v140
So there are just few patches applied to openser 1.4.0 and released about one week before the kamailio 1.4.0.
6 months release cycle was present all the time in openser so far : 5-6 months of coding, 1-2 months of testing. We are facing a bit of delay mainly because of trademark issues with openser word and bugs some developers ignored in openser and preferred to work in secrecy and fix in opensips.
The person that did the fork had in his mind all the tools the project is offering, from board membership to developer access. There was no complain or actions to fix bad things in the project from him or other persons so far. As he is complaining about code quality, he is aware of people working on testing suite (present already in public repository) and others announce running about 2 million of users on openser based platform.
http://www.ilocus.com/2008/03/the_largest_voip_offering_base.html
"Who is behind OpenSIPS effort?" It is Voice System, the same company which three years ago created OpenSER. And yes, it is an enthusiastic move, but with a very professional target.
The main concern regarding OpenSER is not how fast it develops and how many features are added.
The main concern is about OpenSER management and controllability. I'm board member of the OpenSER project and I found that in the last year, OpenSER repeatable failed to solve its internal issues.
This failure directly reflected in all aspects of the project - the ability to provide a release, the quality of the work, the stability it offers, the unity of the developers.
All this jeopardize the project as a reliable proforma for business purposes.
OpenSIPS addresses exactly these issues - Voice System decided to move its effort to OpenSIPS in order to be able to offer stability and a project able to deliver quality software in the future.
Thanks for the additional information, Bogdan-Andrei. I just get a little leary when I read about the forking of any open source project. I hope you succeed in making OpenSIPS even more successful than OpenSER.
For me it's seems that kamailio continue in the same way of OpenSER, who is a good project but very difficult to put in production for an end user.
At the other side, OpenSIPS with the partnership of Yate is going more like a Elastix or Trixbox project. A project easy to implement, integrating all the advantage of Asterisk, with the power of OpenSER.
I've always dream of a OpenSER + Asterisk + AstBill or A2Billing project, does OpenSIPS will be this project?
Kris,
OpenSIPS does not plan to be something similar to Elastix or Trixbox. OpenSIPS is following the OpenSER line in developing an robust and performant SIP server. Just try to he new upcoming release (opensips 1.5) where a lot of works was done for improvements and new things:
http://www.opensips.org/index.php?n=Main.Ver15x
Actually the new OpenSIPS version is 25 % faster then the previous one. And also, it has real load-balancing functionality.
The partnership with Yate is to create a proxy+media solution that fits more natural and doesn't require months to do it. The Load-balancer was a result of this partnership relation.