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• End users are fed up with incompatible, limited functionality, and horrible support.
                   Asterisk solves the first two problems; entepreneurs and the community are ad-
                   dressing the latter.

               The Asterisk Community

               One of the compelling strengths of Asterisk is the passionate community that developed
               and supports it. This community, led by Mark Spencer of Digium, is keenly aware of
               the cultural significance of Asterisk, and is giddy about the future.
               One of the more powerful side effects caused by the energy of the Asterisk community
               is the cooperation it has spawned among the telecommunications professionals, net-
               working professionals, and information technology professionals who share a love for
               this phenomenon. While these professions have traditionally been at odds with each
               other, in the Asterisk community they delight in each others’ skills. The significance of
               this cooperation cannot be underestimated.

               Still, if the dream of Asterisk is to be realized, the community must grow—yet one of
               the key challenges that the community currently faces is a rapid influx of new users.
               The members of the existing community, having birthed this thing called Asterisk, are
               generally welcoming of new users, but they’ve grown impatient with being asked the
               kinds of questions whose answers can often be obtained independently, if one is willing
               to put forth the time needed to research and experiment.
               Obviously, new users do not fit any particular kind of mold. While some will happily
               spend hours experimenting and reading various blogs describing the trials and tribu-
               lations of others, many people who have become enthusiastic about this technology
               are completely uninterested in such pursuits. They want a simple, straightforward, step-
               by-step guide that’ll get them up and running, followed by some sensible examples
               describing the best methods of implementing common functionality (such as voicemail,
               auto attendants, and the like).

               To the members of the expert community, who (correctly) perceive that Asterisk is like
               a web development language, this approach doesn’t make any sense. To them, it’s clear
               that you have to immerse yourself in Asterisk to appreciate its subtleties. Would one
               ask for a step-by-step guide to programming and expect to learn from it all that a lan-
               guage has to offer?
               Clearly, there’s no one approach that’s right for everyone. Asterisk is a different animal
               altogether, and it requires a totally different mind-set. As you explore the community,
               though, be aware that there are people with many different skill sets and attitudes here.
               Some of these folks do not display much patience with new users, but that’s often due
               to their passion for the subject, not because they don’t welcome your participation.







               6 | Chapter 1: A Telephony Revolution
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