OStatic

Many people have attempted to quantify the problems faced with adoption of open source software. There are many issues, but one which is almost universal: Project members and companies almost always think their adoption is more broad-based than it really is. We take a look at this issue as it pertains to one such project and the company attached to it.

While the rest of the world is knee-deep in webinars, Skype-based teleconferences, and other Web 2.0 -ish forms of real time communication, most of the Linux community still relies on IRC, wikis, and opt-in email lists to get things done. At FUDCon last month, the Fedora community announced a new way of helping members and developers communicate with each other: Fedora Talk

By Aaron Huslage

We thought it would be good to give open source VOIP pioneers Digium equal time, given our recent post about Freeswitch. Digium's founder, Mark Spencer was the original author of the Asterisk PBX, one of the more mature open source VOIP platforms. The company's VP of Marketing, Bill Miller, told me that Last year was a big year for us; at the year-end we had finished our 24th straight profitable quarter. We had grown to about 130 employees. While Digium doesn't disclose financial figures, its sales have reportedly been doubling over the past few years and it has taken at least $14 million in venture capital since launching.

By Aaron Huslage

The world of open source VoIP platforms has been dominated by the Asterisk PBX and the products that surround it. While no one has perfect market share numbers for this beast, it has more than likely over 95 percent of the open source share and some significant portion of IP PBXs installed around the world. As Om Malik wrote in late 2007, Asterisk has been downloaded over 1 million times.

Now, another player could give Asterisk a run for its money. Announced at the Emerging Telephony conference in 2006, Freeswitch is quietly growing in popularity and stability.