I've been waiting for Kristian to make an official response to this announcement before replying. I will still allow him to do that, but want to assure the AstLinux users that this project will continue.
The other developers would like to thank Philip for his contributions over the past 2+ years. People move on from projects for various reasons. I would prefer to leave it at that. It does not benefit the project or anyone professionally to go into anything further on the mailing list. There will be some changes in the next month or so related to the build system and build process. The primary change is a move away from the overly complicated build process to something that should be easier to use and maintain. The base will be either eglibc or glibc based, allowing the use of the commercial modules that have been previously unavailable. The remaining developers feel that AstLinux is still a very relevant project. Sure, flash memory has advanced, but using an image based install with a small number of configuration files is a big benefit, especially for someone who maintains multiple devices. So once again, Philip, thank you for your contributions. Darrick On 09/19/2010 01:30 PM, Chris Abnett wrote: > Ive been using astlinux for well over 5 years.. when I started using > it, flash memory was expensive, very few writes allowed, embedded > hardware choices were few and far between… > > 1u servers were expensive, and often used specialized fans that failed > on a fairly regular basis, and ran hot inside causing hard drive failure > as well… > > It took a good deal of linux knowledge to be able to build a slimmed > down installation,compile zaptel,libpri, asterisk etc and get them to > run… at that time linux was pretty much just for computer geeks, and > advanced ones at that… > > Astlinux was a very welcome site.. prebuilt images, complete with > everything installed and ready to go.. burn the image to a fairly low > cost 128 MB flash card, plug it into a soekris net4801 and you had a > working asterisk system ready to go…. > > Fast forward to today… asterisk and linux how-to’s are all over the > internet.. if you don’t want to roll your own asterisk,it even exists > in RPM format for the easy to install redhat-variants of linux…. > > Mini-ITX 1u servers with dual core processors, reliable ball bearing > variable speed fans, 16 gigs of CF memory or SSD disc.. can be built > easily all for $300 or less (the cost of a soekris net5501 and case)… > > Astlinux has some core issues with several pretty popular asterisk > modules unavailable because astlinux is built against uclibc instead of > glibc… I recently ran into this myself.. and after 5 years of good > solid astlinux use I found it necessary to roll my own as I needed > functionality of modules running against glibc…. > > Yes buildroot can be built against glibc, however there are LOTS of > modules / packages in astlinux.. and I venture lots of time required to > make such a major change…. > > I have enough knowledge to get things done but have no idea how to even > start making a library change… > > But my main point is to question whether astlinux is reaching the end of > its most useful purpose as it had when it was first born… ??? > > -Christopher > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > *Sent:* Sunday, September 19, 2010 8:34 AM > *To:* AstLinux Users Mailing List > *Cc:* AstLinux Users Mailing List > *Subject:* Re: [Astlinux-users] Stepping aside > > Philip, > > As a mere end user of AstLinux, I'm unaware of the behind-the-scenes > inter-workings of the contributors. Regardless, I'm saddened by this > development. > > Thank you for the contributions you have brought to AstLinux over the > years and for the support you have provided to those of us who sometimes > find this a bit mystifying. > > Dan > > -----Original Message----- > From: "Philip Prindeville" <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2010 12:34am > To: "AstLinux Users Mailing List" <[email protected]> > Subject: [Astlinux-users] Stepping aside > > Hello all, > > After making major contributions to this project for 2-1/2 years now, > and recently trying to establish some sorts of best practices for > development (regular conference calls, code reviews, guidelines for > commits and migrating patches into release branches, etc) and getting no > traction from the rest of the contributors, I find it unrewarding to > continue in a vacuum. > > I've come to this decision after several months of stalemate in efforts > to ameliorate our processes. > > I'll be staying on contributing the occasional bug fix as I need for my > own circumstances, but I'll be shifting the bulk of my attention to > other projects where collaboration flows a little more organically. > Someone else will need to make the major development contributions if > the project is to maintain momentum. > > I've tried over the last year and a half to find outside talent to > bolster our development effort, but the specificity of the project means > it has a narrow appeal, and hence a small audience from which to recruit. > > I thank the users for their many expressions of appreciation. > > I'll be present in the community as a user, so I'll still be around in > one form or another. > > -Philip ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Start uncovering the many advantages of virtual appliances and start using them to simplify application deployment and accelerate your shift to cloud computing. http://p.sf.net/sfu/novell-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ Astlinux-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/astlinux-users Donations to support AstLinux are graciously accepted via PayPal to [email protected].
