Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 11:54 pm Post subject: [Asterisk-doc] docs/volume-one vm1chp1-introduction.xml,1.6,
Comments:
Update of /cvsroot/asterisk/docs/volume-one
In directory sc8-pr-cvs1.sourceforge.net:/tmp/cvs-serv25241/volume-one
Modified Files:
vm1chp1-introduction.xml
Log Message:
Sorting out some DocBook stuff
Index: vm1chp1-introduction.xml
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/asterisk/docs/volume-one/vm1chp1-introduction.xml,v
retrieving revision 1.6
retrieving revision 1.7
diff -C2 -d -r1.6 -r1.7
*** vm1chp1-introduction.xml 11 Oct 2004 19:48:01 -0000 1.6
--- vm1chp1-introduction.xml 12 Oct 2004 07:54:31 -0000 1.7
***************
*** 1,262 ****
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
! <chapter>
! <title>Introduction</title>
!
! <para></para>
!
! <sect1>
! <title>General Concept of Asterisk</title>
!
! <sect2>
! <title>Asterisk: The Swiss Army Knife of Telephony</title>
!
! <para>Welcome to the wonderful world of Asterisk. You are about to
! discover the most powerful and popular open source PBX available.</para>
!
! <para>Asterisk allows you to craft a telephony system to address your
! specific requirements. It does this by providing a library of basic
! telephony functions which you then use as script building-blocks. Calls
! into the system trigger these functions through digit patterns (referred
! to as extensions), giving you complete control of complex call routing
! concepts with relative ease. Common PBX functionality such as voicemail,
! call queuing, conferencing, music on hold and others are all included.
! But that's just the beginning. Asterisk is one of the few PBXs in
! existence that connects legacy telephony technologies such as PRI or
! Analog trunks through the same switching logic as state of the art VoIP
! interfaces such as IAX2, H.323 or SIP. This powerful yet simple core
! allows complex concepts in other systems to be deployed with ease in
! Asterisk. For example, building an IVR application or deploying CTI
! functionality can be done more inexpensively than with any other system.
! Why? Because with Asterisk, it's all built right in!</para>
!
! <para>Perhaps Asterisk's most valuable asset is the open nature of the
! system. As with any open-source application, Asterisk can be further
! enhanced by the community of people who use it. This powerful concept
! ensures that Asterisk is prepared to mature in keeping with the demands
! of the industry. Go ahead and modify the source code to fit your needs,
! or, better still, contribute to an active and growing development
! community.</para>
!
! <para>Because Asterisk is so powerful and flexible, in this book we can
! only begin to cover all the possible uses and configurations. We will
! therefore focus on the most commonly used features of the system and
! answer the most frequently asked questions. If you can work through the
! material we present here, you will be well on your way to becoming a
! competent Asterisk solutions developer.</para>
!
! <para>We have also included appendices that will serve as excellent
! reference material, covering subjects such as application programming in
! C, configuration of various types of hardware, and many samples of
! configuration files. Also, there is a glossary included to help you find
! definitions for terms and acronyms used in this book.</para>
! </sect2>
!
! <sect2>
! <title>The goals of this document</title>
!
! <para>Asterisk has evolved beyond its roots as an open source
! experiment. A core of users, led by Mark Spencer, who were both
! enthusiasts and developers have provided a platform that has suddenly
! become very interesting to a much wider audience. People who appreciate
! the incredible potential of this platform are using it to solve a
! diverse and fascinating plethora of problems.</para>
!
! <para>What new users seem to have the most trouble with, however, is
! getting a basic system up and running.</para>
!
! <para>In this document, we will walk you through the process of
! selecting a platform, installing hardware, obtaining Asterisk, compiling
! it, configuring it, and starting it.</para>
!
! <para>When we are done, you should have a basic but fully-functional
! Asterisk PBX, with working FXO, FXS, IAX and SIP connections, as well as
! functioning examples of the various things that Asterisk can do.</para>
!
! <para>Will this solve the particular challenge you require Asterisk to
! solve for you? Probably not. But you <emphasis> will</emphasis> have a
! system from which you can begin your journey of discovery.</para>
!
! <para>Learning Asterisk is much like learning a new programming
! language. Once you get the hang of the basics, the rest comes easy, with
! time.</para>
! </sect2>
!
! <sect2>
! <title>Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills</title>
!
! <para>Because of the nearly limitless flexibility of Asterisk,
! successfully configuring a system requires more than a passing
! familiarity with several technical concepts; most notably Linux
! Installation and Administration, as well as an understanding of
! Telephony. In this document, we will only be scraping the surface of
! these complex technologies as we discuss concepts relevant to Asterisk
! design, installation and administration. If you desire more knowledge on
! either of the aforementioned subjects, we have suggested several sources
! which will set you on the path towards the required knowledge.</para>
!
! <sect3>
! <title>Telephony</title>
!
! <para>Asterisk is a PBX, and that means that the more
! Telecommunications knowledge you have, the easier Asterisk will be to
! learn. If you plan to use legacy PSTN circuits and telephones, you
! will want to understand the difference between FXS and FXO interfaces.
! Digital trunks will require you to be conversant with technologies
! such as ISDN-PRI (including wiring of T1s). Terms such as PSTN or VoIP
! should be familiar to you, and you'd do well to obtain an
! understanding of the concept of analog to digital conversion, and what
! codecs are.</para>
!
! <para>Before you get overwhelmed, please understand that many
! excellent references exist to help you obtain this knowledge. A good
! introductory work is <citetitle pubwork="book"> Noll's Introduction to
! Telephones and Telephone Systems</citetitle> , published by Artech
! House Publishers. The definitive encyclopaedia of all things Telecom
! is <citetitle pubwork="book"> Newton's Telecom Dictionary</citetitle>
! , published by CMP Books - this book should be on any
! telecommunication professional's bookshelf.</para>
! </sect3>
!
! <sect3>
! <title>Linux Installation and Administration</title>
!
! <para>You will need an i386-compatible system with Linux installed
! before you can install and use Asterisk. If you do not have a solid
! grasp of Linux administration concepts you will want to focus on
! honing those skills before attempting an Asterisk install. Everyone
! has to crawl before we can walk, no? On the Internet, <ulink
! type="http" url="http://www.tldp.org"> The Linux Documentation
! Project</ulink> (http://www.tldp.org) provides many great resources
! for beginners. In the bookstore, Frisch's <citetitle pubwork="book">
! Essential System Administration</citetitle> along with Nemeth, et
! al.'s <citetitle pubwork="book"> Linux Administration
! Handbook</citetitle> and <citetitle pubwork="book"> Unix System
! Administration Handbook</citetitle> are recommended. <citetitle
! pubwork="book"> Running Linux</citetitle> by Matt Welch, Lar Kaufman
! et al. is still one of the all-time most successful Linux
! introductions. Reading one or two of these books can save a lot of
! headaches down the road.</para>
!
! <note>
! <title>About Non-Linux Platforms</title>
!
! <para>Asterisk works on many operating systems, however the main
! development and the PSTN hardware support is focused on the Linux
! i386 platform. On other platforms, you are mostly limited to the use
! of VoIP protocols in your PBX. Some applications will not run
! without a timer that currently is implemented only on Linux systems.
! The FreeBSD operating system has recently got a lot of attention by
! Asterisk developers and Asterisk is running smoothly on that
! platform with the above mentioned limitations.</para>
!
! <para>Digium's Asterisk server runs on FreeBSD, OpenBSD and OS X,
! but the hardware drivers do not yet support these platforms.
! FreeBSD's 'ports' provides drivers for the most recent stable
! release of Asterisk, and work is progressing on integrating those
! drivers into Digium's releases.</para>
!
! <para>Support for non-linux platforms is provided by third-parties,
! and as a result there are various limitations on features, drivers
! or release dates versus Asterisk on Linux. As that support becomes
! integrated into Digium's releases, these limitations will go
! away.</para>
! </note>
! </sect3>
! </sect2>
!
! <sect2>
! <title>What to expect</title>
!
! <sect3>
! <title>Asterisk is not a turnkey system</title>
!
! <para>The Asterisk PBX system is a complex piece of software. The
! learning curve is very steep and simply reading any single resource
! will not teach you everything that Asterisk is capable of. It's a safe
! bet that not even Mark Spencer knows all of the things his creation is
! capable of.</para>
!
! <para>This book will attempt to address some of the most common issues
! that newcomers to Asterisk encounter, using step-by-step processes,
! ultimately resulting in the creation of a functioning Asterisk PBX
! system.</para>
!
! <para>Learning how Asterisk works is very much like learning a new
! programming language. Many hours need to be spent with Asterisk in
! order to grasp how all the configuration files work with each other to
! control the many interfaces. We will be glossing over many of these
! topics in pursuit of our more simple goal, but some things will need
! to be discussed and understood.</para>
!
! <para>Comprehending the dialplan is a fundamental concept that those
! new to Asterisk must grasp. The configuration of the different types
! of channels Asterisk uses to communicate with ultimately are brought
! together in the dialplan. It is the heart of the Asterisk
! system.</para>
!
! <para>Many people experience much pain and frustration when attempting
! their first Asterisk installation because they envision having a
! production-quality system in a couple of hours. This may be possible
! once all the concepts are learned, but few are able to do it their
! first time out. The intension of this book is to get you up to speed
! as quickly as possible, but we recommend you take your time and enjoy
! the process. You'll feel much happier with Asterisk if you give
! yourself proper time to fall in love with it (and make no mistake;
! fall in love you will).</para>
! </sect3>
!
! <sect3>
! <title>Don't like it? You can change it!</title>
!
! <para>Asterisk is open source software. The ability to read the source
! code is its power. Most other PBX systems are entirely closed-source,
! limiting you to the features the designers decided you could have. In
! Asterisk, if something does not work quite the way you want it to, you
! can change it! Naturally you will not be able to do that yourself
! without sufficient programming skills, but then again, such skills are
! easily hired from within the very same community that developed the
! product. Try THAT with a proprietary system.</para>
!
! <para>The source code is also an excellent debugging and learning
! resource in itself. Reading through the many text and code files in
! the Asterisk source directory can teach you much about the intricate
! workings of the system.</para>
! </sect3>
!
! <sect3>
! <title>Free and Open Source Software: GPL and LGPL Licensing</title>
!
! <para>The Gnu Public License is an exciting concept, and much has been
! written about it. <ulink url="???"> The Free Software
! Foundation</ulink> (<ulink url="???"> www.fsf.org</ulink> ), would
! probably be the best place to begin researching the GPL.</para>
!
! <para>The concept of the GPL with respect to Asterisk works something
! like this: With most PBXs, you need to pay huge licencing fees, merely
! to install the software. With Asterisk, all you need to pay is
! attention to the obligations the GPL places on you. Stated simply, if
! you are not willing to abide by the terms of the GPL, then you will
! have to either a) cease using Asterisk, or b) negotiate a separate
! licencing agreement with Digium, the holders of the copyright on
! Asterisk.</para>
!
! <para>Feel free to download and use Asterisk as you want; the GPL is
! all about freedom. But be aware that by using any GPL software, you
! are agreeing to be bound by the terms of the GPL.</para>
! </sect3>
!
! <sect3>
! <title>Test Section</title>
!
! <para>This section can safely be removed. It is here to determine
! wheter Jim Van Meggelen's current favourite XML editor (XMLMind) has
! to be destroyed or not, due to some strange formatting choices it has
! been making.</para>
!
! <para>. . . </para>
!
! <para></para>
! </sect3>
! </sect2>
! </sect1>
! </chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
--- 1,156 ----
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
! <chapter><para>Introduction</para>
! <para></para>
! <sect1><title>General Concept of Asterisk</title>
! <sect2><title>Asterisk: The Future Of Telephony</title>
! <para>Welcome to the wonderful world of Asterisk. You are about
! to discover the most powerful and popular open source PBX available.</para>
! <para>Asterisk allows you to craft a telephony system to address
! your specific requirements. It does this by providing a library
! of basic telephony functions which you then use as script building-blocks. Calls
! into the system trigger these functions through digit patterns (referred
! to as extensions), giving you complete control of complex call routing
! concepts with relative ease. Common PBX functionality such as voicemail,
! call queuing, conferencing, music on hold and others are all included.
! But that's just the beginning. Asterisk is one of the few PBXs in
! existence that connects legacy telephony technologies such as PRI
! or Analog trunks through the same switching logic as state of the
! art VoIP interfaces such as IAX2, H.323 or SIP. This powerful yet
! simple core allows complex concepts in other systems to be deployed
! with ease in Asterisk. For example, building an IVR application
! or deploying CTI functionality can be done more inexpensively than
! with any other system. Why? Because with Asterisk, it's all built
! right in!</para>
! <para>Perhaps Asterisk's most valuable asset is the open nature
! of the system. As with any open-source application, Asterisk can
! be further enhanced by the community of people who use it. This
! powerful concept ensures that Asterisk is prepared to mature in
! keeping with the demands of the industry. Go ahead and modify the
! source code to fit your needs, or, better still, contribute to an
! active and growing development community.</para>
! <para>Because Asterisk is so powerful and flexible, in this book
! we can only begin to cover all the possible uses and configurations.
! We will therefore focus on the most commonly used features of the system
! and answer the most frequently asked questions. If you can work
! through the material we present here, you will be well on your way
! to becoming a competent Asterisk solutions developer.</para></sect2>
! <sect2><title>The goals of this document</title>
! <para>Asterisk has evolved beyond its roots as an open source experiment.
! A community of enthusiasts and developers, led by Mark Spencer,
! have provided a platform that has recently become very interesting
! to a much wider audience. People who appreciate the incredible potential
! of this platform are using it to solve a diverse and fascinating
! plethora of problems.</para>
! <para>What new users seem to have the most trouble with, however,
! is getting a basic system up and running.</para>
! <para>In this document, we will walk you through the process of
! selecting a platform, installing hardware, obtaining Asterisk, compiling
! it, configuring it, and starting it.</para>
! <para>When we are done, you should have a basic but fully-functional
! Asterisk PBX, with working FXO, FXS, IAX and SIP connections, as
! well as functioning examples of the various things that Asterisk
! can do.</para>
! <para>Will this solve the particular challenge you require Asterisk
! to solve for you? Probably not. But you <emphasis>will</emphasis> have
! a system from which you can begin your journey of discovery.</para>
! <para>Learning Asterisk is much like learning a new programming
! language. Once you get the hang of the basics, the rest comes easy,
! with practice, and time.</para></sect2>
! <sect2><title>Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills</title>
! <para>Because of the nearly limitless flexibility of Asterisk, successfully
! configuring a system requires more than a passing familiarity with
! several technical concepts; most notably Linux Installation and
! Administration, as well as an understanding of Telephony. In this
! document, we will only be scraping the surface of these complex
! technologies as we discuss concepts relevant to Asterisk design,
! installation and administration. If you desire more knowledge on
! either of the aforementioned subjects, we have suggested several
! sources which will set you on the path towards enlightenment</para>
! <sect3><title>Telephony</title>
! <para>Asterisk is a PBX, and that means that the more Telecommunications
! knowledge you have, the easier Asterisk will be to learn. If you
! plan to use legacy PSTN circuits and telephones, you will want to
! understand the difference between FXS and FXO interfaces. Digital
! trunks will require you to be conversant with technologies such
! as ISDN-PRI (including wiring of T1s). Terms such as PSTN or VoIP
! should be familiar to you, and you'd do well to obtain an understanding
! of the concept of analog to digital conversion, and what codecs
! are.</para>
! <para>Before you get overwhelmed, please understand that many excellent
! references exist to help you obtain this knowledge. A good introductory
! work is Noll's Introduction to Telephones and Telephone Systems
! , published by Artech House Publishers. The definitive encyclopaedia
! of all things Telecom is Newton's Telecom Dictionary , published
! by CMP Books - this book should be on any telecommunication professional's
! bookshelf.</para></sect3>
! <sect3><title>Linux Installation and Administration</title>
! <para>You will need an i386-compatible system with Linux installed
! before you can install and use Asterisk. If you do not have a solid
! grasp of Linux administration concepts you will want to focus on
! honing those skills before attempting an Asterisk install. Everyone
! has to crawl before we can walk, no? On the Internet, The Linux
! Documentation Project (http://www.tldp.org) provides many
! great resources for beginners. In the bookstore, Frisch's Essential
! System Administration along with Nemeth, et al.'s Linux Administration
! Handbook and Unix System Administration Handbook are recommended.
! Running Linux by Matt Welch, Lar Kaufman et al. is still one of
! the all-time most successful Linux introductions. Reading one or
! two of these books can save a lot of headaches down the road.</para></sect3></sect2>
! <sect2><title>What to expect</title>
! <sect3><title>Asterisk is not a turnkey system</title>
! <para>The Asterisk PBX system is a complex piece of software. The
! learning curve is very steep and simply reading any single resource
! will not teach you everything that Asterisk is capable of. It's
! a safe bet that not even Mark Spencer knows all of the things his
! creation is capable of.</para>
! <para>This book will attempt to address some of the most common
! issues that newcomers to Asterisk encounter, using step-by-step
! processes, ultimately resulting in the creation of a functioning Asterisk
! PBX system.</para>
! <para>Learning how Asterisk works is very much like learning a new
! programming language. Many hours need to be spent with Asterisk
! in order to grasp how all the configuration files work with each
! other to control the many interfaces. We will be glossing over many
! of these topics in pursuit of our more simple goal, but some things
! will need to be discussed and understood.</para>
! <para>Comprehending the dialplan is a fundamental concept that those
! new to Asterisk must grasp. The configuration of the different types
! of channels Asterisk uses to communicate with ultimately are brought
! together in the dialplan. It is the heart of the Asterisk system.</para>
! <para>Many people experience much pain and frustration when attempting
! their first Asterisk installation because they envision having a
! production-quality system in a couple of hours. This may be possible
! once all the concepts are learned, but few are able to do it their
! first time out. The intension of this book is to get you up to speed
! as quickly as possible, but we recommend you take your time and
! enjoy the process. You'll feel much happier with Asterisk if you
! give yourself proper time to fall in love with it (and make no mistake;
! fall in love you will).</para></sect3>
! <sect3><title>Don't like it? You can change it!</title>
! <para>Asterisk is open source software. The ability to read the
! source code is its power. Most other PBX systems are entirely closed-source,
! limiting you to the features the designers decided you could have.
! In Asterisk, if something does not work quite the way you want it
! to, you can change it! Naturally you will not be able to do that
! yourself without sufficient programming skills, but then again,
! such skills are easily hired from within the very same community
! that developed the product. Try THAT with a proprietary system.</para>
! <para>The source code is also an excellent debugging and learning
! resource in itself. Reading through the many text and code files
! in the Asterisk source directory can teach you much about the intricate
! workings of the system.</para></sect3>
! <sect3><title>Free and Open Source Software: GPL and LGPL Licensing</title>
! <para>The Gnu Public License is an exciting concept, and much has
! been written about it. The Free Software Foundation (www.fsf.org),
! would probably be the best place to begin researching the GPL.</para>
! <para>The concept of the GPL with respect to Asterisk works something
! like this: With most PBXs, you need to pay huge licencing fees,
! merely to install the software. With Asterisk, all you need to pay is
! attention to the obligations the GPL places on you. Stated simply,
! if you are not willing to abide by the terms of the GPL, then you
! will have to either a) cease using Asterisk, or b) negotiate a separate
! licencing agreement with Digium, the holders of the copyright on
! Asterisk.</para>
! <para>Feel free to download and use Asterisk as you want; the GPL
! is all about freedom. But be aware that by using any GPL software,
! you are agreeing to be bound by the terms of the GPL.</para></sect3></sect2></sect1></chapter>
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum