asterisk users - Sep 2004 - Sipura-3000 Assistant for Asterisk on MacOSX? Well, maybe, with your help!

Hi

We are getting more and more email from Mac users asking how they can
connect their MacOSX based Asterisk server to a PSTN phone line. This
has led to two ideas ...

1) Mid term: set up a donation fund to sponsor the development of
Zaptel drivers for MacOSX

Note: if everyone who downloaded the Asterisk installation package for
MacOSX during the last two months since its release would donate only
5 USD, there would be a sponsorship fund far in excess of 5000 USD.
Wouldn't that get us Zaptel drivers for MacOSX?!

2) Short term: create an assistant to configure Asterisk to use a
Sipura-3000 to use a PSTN phone line

Unfortunately, Sipura have not been very helpful and their attitude
has now led to a lack of determination to buy a device to be shipped
to Japan. In fact we have now cancelled an order that was never
fulfilled.

This is not about the money but about the attitude Sipura have shown.
It is not very encouraging to put in 200-300 hours of your time to
create a free tool for the community without asking anything in return
only to see the company that will get more benefit than anybody else
to give you an attitude like a 1970s IBM.

My first thoughts were "Who are those guys anyway?" and "What
have
they done that they think they are better than the rest of us?", but
then I thought "Hey, we are part of a community. Let's see if
community spirit can change the attitude of those Sipura folks."

So, I am asking anybody who has got an interest in a Sipura-3000
Assistant for Asterisk on MacOSX to consider sending an email to
sales@sipura.com and encourage them to support a) Asterisk and its
developers and b) Mac users who want to use Asterisk with GUI tools.

If Sipura don't change their attitude, I am probably going to end up
writing the assistant anyway after going to the US and picking up a
device in person, but we will then make this assistant donation ware
with mandatory contributions to the above mentioned Zaptel on MacOSX
sponsorship fund. Probably a good way to deal with products from
vendors who don't like us, I guess.

rgds
benjk

-- 
Sunrise Telephone Systems, 9F Shibuya Daikyo Bldg., 1-13-5 Shibuya,
Tokyo, Japan.

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