Asterisk: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition

Foreword

When contemplating the foreword for every edition of this book, we always had more people we’d like contributions from than pages we could spare. In this fifth edition, we’ve again asked a select group of people from the Asterisk community to write a few words about Asterisk from their perspective.

Joshua Colp (Senior Software Developer, Sangoma/Digium)

Over 15 years ago, I downloaded Asterisk onto my laptop and placed my first VoIP call using IAX2 to the Digium PBX. I held my breath in anticipation, waiting to hear a voice, until finally the sound of Allison came out of my laptop. At that point I knew there was something special to Asterisk. It lit this spark of interest and imagination in me: my laptop had actually placed a call! The realization that with only a little effort I could take calls and do with them what I wanted was addictive and exciting—a sentiment shared by many to this day.

Asterisk today is vastly different from how it was during that time. In the past, it was primarily focused on being a PBX. It had all of the features and continued to gain new ones to propel it further into that area. Over time, however, the project has evolved to one where Asterisk is a toolkit that can be used alone or in combination with other projects to build things. It’s there to spark the question of “Can I do this?” in your mind and allow you to see it through.

This simple question is what drives many of the decisions made about Asterisk and its direction. “Is this right for the ...