That Apple App Store really gets imaginations going, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be great to just publish an AGI script and see even 1% of the Asterisk installed base buy it for the low, low price of $49?
Yes, that would be great. But one of the significant components of the moneymaking App Store is platform control. Apple's is the sole legitimate App Store for their platform. Digium gave that sort of control away with the source code to Asterisk. And really, who wants Digium to play middleman in their transaction? We watched with interest when our friends at RedHat launched the RedHat Exchange (RHX). After three years, VP Mike Evans said, "We no longer believe that it is productive for Red Hat to try and front end the sale of third-party open source products. It's more effective for them to line up in sales channels with our partners." Source: <URL:http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/6975/1/> In short, what open source-based ISVs want is not a virtual storefront, but exposure to new customers through existing sales channels and partners. That's why we created AsteriskExchange.com. AsteriskExchange.com provides free listings for free products and services, and paid listings for paid products and services. Digium has already consolidated many of its partnership types into the site, to cross-pollinate them and simplify the programs. The site receives roughly 1/10 the traffic of Asterisk.org and is growing. There's a difference in the visitor as well -- Asterisk newcomers visit Asterisk.org; Asterisk users looking for complementary products and services visit AsteriskExchange.com. Yes, there are fees associated with the AsteriskExchange. You've seen what happens on voip-info and other sites when the barrier is too low. AsteriskExchange is a business project that must earn enough to justify its development and tending. That said, please do get in touch with me if the listing fee is preventing you from joining. We aim to encourage innovative Asterisk applications, even the ones that haven't yet found commercial success. Could we do a better job at getting the word out? Yes, definitely. But we're also cautious about using Asterisk.org and such to promote things like AsteriskExchange. (Also a good reason to discuss this on asterisk-users rather than move it to -biz.) Is it a big deal to see commercial messages on Asterisk.org? We created AsteriskExchange.com as a separate website, but we could just fold it into the project site to raise its visibility and traffic. What waves (good and bad) might this create? What could we do to make the AsteriskExchange more effective? Thanks, rm -- Rod Montgomery Digium, Inc. | Product Manager 445 Jan Davis Drive NW - Huntsville, AL 35806 - USA direct: +1 256 428 6267 fax: +1 256 864 0464 Check us out at: http://digium.com & http://asterisk.org -- _____________________________________________________________________ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users