Brian's experience is not an isolated one. FS is starting to gain momentum as people realize just how much it can do and how well it can do it. Prior to the 1.0.0 release we saw a trickle of new users, many of whom were "Asterisk refugees" - people like Brian who need features and/or functions that Asterisk couldn't deliver (for whatever reason). Now that trickle has turned into a small but steady stream. We see new users every day.
Another reason we see people coming to FS is because of this kind of viewpoint in the Asterisk community:
At least on that score, Asterisk proponents think their code plays well. ?Asterisk is a like a toolbox,? says Cantera, ?You just have to know how to use it.?
There is a serious caveat emptor in the last part of that statement. "Just knowing how to use it" may suffice for many, but it does not suffice for all. If I need a basic PBX with VoIP functionality using commodity hardware then Asterisk will work in many cases. However, if I have specific needs, or I want an enterprise-class deployment and high-availability then FreeSWITCH is simply a better choice.
Bottom line here is simple: FreeSWITCH was not designed to be a drop-in replacement for Asterisk, nor was it designed to be "just a PBX" or "dial tone in a box." It is a switch first and foremost, and everything revolves around that fact. It scales wonderfully. It extends easily. It allows for a wide variety of customization. Most importantly, though, is that the FreeSWITCH community, led by the devs, is awesome. FreeSWITCH is a great choice in many situations and as it matures it will only get better.
-MC
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