Instant Office

I’ m interested in Instant Office. Is it a straight Asterisk Install with FreePbx loaded? Or is it bloated like a TrixBox?

Thanks

So then you should not have a problem releasing the detailed instructions you are using to install CentOS/Asterisk/FPBX on those bundled systems your selling. I’ll keep an eye out for it.

mustardman,

considering how this project is run, I would hope that you would give us the benefit of the doubt before jumping to such conclusions. So let me address the issue.

First, the purpose of the instant office is to provide a bundle with all the phones and system, some support help, etc. It will be an evolving product. The fact that it is installed with FreePBX is really a very minor aspect of it.

Concerning outdated instructions. We ported information from the Aussievoip site and other relevant places to create our initial information. We are now working very hard behind the scenes to test the mechanisms in place that will allow most of those pages to be edited by you and anyone else who can help improve, correct and expand upon this resource. In the mean time, we have had qualified community members contact us to find ways to get access and help do the site. In fact, there were several community members involved in the initial porting efforts to get the site up and going to where it is today and we are deeply appreciative because something like this can not be done alone.

Concerning an ISO and having the knowledge on how to build and created an ISO. We have that knowledge and many many other people also have that knowledge. Getting that knowledge out and carving out a corner of the development environment so that we can get outside community members to help contribute to and evolve it is a lot of work. As it turns out, we are doing that work also behind the scenes. The current infrastructure, in particular the sourceforge svn repository system, has been a bit of a “chain and ball” because of limitations that we can’t get around so we are working on solutions to that. That will lead to things like the ISO, a third part repository that developers of contributed but unofficial modules can maintain and eventually an ability to access those through the online system, etc.

To say there is a conflict of interest in ‘putting good instructions’ out for people who want to role their own, when the instructions come from those very people and will be updated by those very people is quite a stretch. And when we get to the point of having an ISO it will be like everything else we do: up on an SVN repository with a proper build environment under revision control and viewable by the world so you can see as much or as little detail as you want.


Philippe Lindheimer - FreePBX Project Lead
http//freepbx.org - IRC #freepbx

I think you need to explain more what it is you seek.

If you want truly instant, meaning take a machine, load a cd, and run, then you need a solution like TrixBox. Trixbox provides the Operating System (CentOS), Astersik, and Free PBX.

Freepbx is a GUI to Asterisk. To run, you need an underlying operating system - a linux variant, installed and configured, then you need to load asterisk and configure, then you can install and run FreePBX.

this recent article[quote=vbrief1]Freepbx is a GUI to Asterisk.[/quote]Well that is note really the case. FreePBX has a GUI but FreePBX is much more than a GUI. Asterisk is a voice switching interpreter (and a very powerful and appreciated one at that). FreePBX is a full PBX application. Take a look at the begining of to better understand what I mean.

I think you may have misinterpreted tbooth’s meaning (if I’m wrong, speak up). There is a ton of stuff on trixbox that many users consider bloated. The overall management GUI that constantly tries to make sure you are registered and runs very slowly. Many of the applications that come on it (or at least used to) and are not needed by many people, etc. For some it is a great solution and designed for what they are looking for. For others, it is not.

To answer your question tbooth, it is not bloated. It is more or less how you describe.

Philippe Lindheimer - FreePBX Project Lead
http//freepbx.org - IRC FreePBX

The Instant Office package in the online store is a Centos 5 + FreePBX + Asterisk installation.

Time for a FAQ…

I stand corrected, and I was not aware he was referring to the instant office avail in the store. Yes trixbox is bloated, and there move to commercialization has been downright disparaging.

What bugs me is they obviously have the installation procedure figured out yet don’t publish it. Instead they make half assed posts with links to 3rd party outdated procedures that sorta kinda work. My direct questions to try get my procedure verified go unanswered. Now I know why!

mustardman,
your posts sounds like it was meant for a different topic or otherwise seems to be diverting from the thread topic? If just diverting, you may be better served to start a new thread? (just trying to figure out what you were referring to, I’m genuinely confused)

Philippe Lindheimer - FreePBX Project Lead
http//freepbx.org - IRC #freepbx

Your selling an an instant office package so I would say there is a conflict of interest in trying to get good installation instructions out to the general public who would prefer to do it on their own.

More power to you to try and make some money for all your hard work on what has become an excellent product (free or otherwise) IMHO. I will have to re-evaluate how I see the project though. Not saying it’s a bad thing necessarily…just saying.

mustardman - no we don’t - the intention is to carve out a corner with the build environment and from there you will be able to see everything. There are not a lot of secrets when it comes to making an ISO.

Philippe Lindheimer - FreePBX Project Lead
http//freepbx.org - IRC #freepbx

mustardman, If you wish to know “how to” take the older TB 2.2.x or older cd open the cd grab the tar ball untar it
and read the install.sh install_parts.sh

everything you need is right there…

It is all a bunch of scripts, nothing fancy . nothing that anyone can not do.

There is also a build iso file there so you can “roll your own ISO”

Get to it…

Bubba

Yes, i’ve looked at the TB install script. Also looked at others. I’m not really interested in that. What I am interested in is what the FreePBX developers recommend as far as detailed install procedure. They must have this as they are now selling systems with it pre-installed. To my knowledge they haven’t made the procedure public though.

And this is just me talking… But, on my personal to do list are a few blog items for this site: Hamachi as a service, Using nmap and nessus to check security, iax2 trunking and “a clean build procedure.”

Since my day job has basically been kicking my butt for a month now, I haven’t gotten to them (and a few others.)

Honestly, it is not to hard to extrapolate what such an install consists of.

So, no one is being prevented from sharing this info. I just don’t think anyone has had time to prepare it.