It's a safe bet that the VON crowd will generally not be Linux-savvy. Also, it should be noted that the telecom industry has (in my experience) tended to be the most hostile, or at least unwilling/able to understand why this "free" PBX is anything to take seriously. The crowd we attract will likely be folks who are generally pro-Asterisk, but expect some tough questions.
Here's some thoughts, in no particular order: - Like it or not, they can't ignore the press that it's getting - I'm pretty sure any Linux-aware telecom geek is going to have Asterisk running. They've all got it in their labs, whether they know it or not. - As an example of the growth of Asterisk, our book has been the top telecom book since it hit the shelves. It has even out-sold Harry Newton's venerable Telecom Dictionary, which was by far the most successful telecom book (and worth having on your bookshelf, BTW). - Given the crowd, we could quite literally go through the whole "Cathedral / Bazaar" routine. It has been my experience that the telecom crowd is very out of touch with the rest of the world of high tech. They are not stupid by any means, but they are generally unfamiliar with stuff that we speak about comfortably. This is stereotyping, so please take what I say with a grain of salt, but it can be helpful to understand. I did a talk at the CTCA conference last fall, which was tailored to a non-Linux audience. I might be able to dust that off and present it. I might also be speaking at the conference proper (they haven't confirmed that yet), and it's my intent to help people understand the concept of community-based product development, but it won't be easy - they are used to being spoon fed, which, while it removes control, also give you someone to blame when all is not well. The fact is, we generally believe that open-source telecom is an unstoppable phenomenon. This crowd, more than any other, will find that idea hard to believe. They might find it interesting, but only the very visionary of them will are really going to "get" it - and most of them are already familiar with (and/or are members of) our group. Jim. > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: March 6, 2006 10:37 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [on-asterisk] VON and this month's meeting > > Preliminary talks are looking good to get us a venue at VON, > which would mean pushing our meeting off by a week and > holding it in the evening on Tuesday April 4th at the Metro > Toronto Convention Centre. > > I think we should likely do a brief introduction to asterisk, > and more importantly in my mind, explain why we think open > source telephony is good for the ecosystem, before launching > into John Van Ostrands's AGI talk. > > Thoughts, suggestions, objections? > > Cheers, > Simon P. Ditner > > | First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, > | then you win. -- Mohandas Gandhi > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For > additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.2.0/275 - Release > Date: 06/03/2006 > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.2.0/275 - Release Date: 06/03/2006
