So, let’s start from the beginning and establish a base ground: Open Source software, especially that distributed under the GPL, doesn’t imply that it is FREE for re-distribution in any form. The GPL had indicated specific guidelines about how GPL software can be re-distributed in commercial forms. However, putting aside GPL restrictions and various legal mambo-jumbo, we can summarize the GPL distribution limitations according to the following:

1. If you use a GPL licensed product and change it to your own needs, you are not required to make your changes available to the public.
2. If you use a GPL licensed product and change it, then you want to distribute it, you are confronted with one of the following:
   • Provide your customer with a complete source code of the changes.
   • Provide your changes to general public, via an upstream code contribution of a public patch.
   • Obtain a valid license permit from the original GPL holder.

Again, the above is very much generic and doesn’t cover all grounds, however, gives a very good idea of the various aspects. Some GPL software packages, Asterisk for example, are distributed under a dual-license, enabling a developer/vendor/distributor to go about and provide binary packaged versions of Asterisk – pending a proper license to be obtained from Digium.

Israel is most probably the worst place in the world (following China and Africa, of course) when it comes to software license violations. In Israel, people regard Open Source as “Free – do what you want software”, thus, living in complete ignorance of the various implications of violating GPL coded software projects, especially those backed by commercial companies.

This morning, I’ve received a call from one of the larger telco equipment manufacturers in Israel. Actually, this company is so well know, that their CPE equipment is available all over the world – and is even considered one of the best around. In any case, one of their development managers calls me up saying: “We’d like to integrate the Asterisk SIP stack into an embedded environment and resell it – can we get this technical service from your company”. After listening a little more to the man, I’ve indicated that this kind of work will most probably require some licensing from Digium and that we need to approach Digium for that. After explaining the reason, the immediate question followed: “What may happen if we don’t do it and simply modify and integrate the GPL version?” – my answer was: “Well, it will either make your entire product GPL, so you’ll have to release it. Or your product will violate the Digium intellectual property, exposing your company to a lawsuit”.

The man then asked me: “Well, can you help us with that? can you assist in this matter?” – which I replied: “well, let’s meet, I want to understand deeper – but I’m sure that I can help your company in going through this track successfully”.

People tend to forget that licensing of software is very important, not only because of support, licensing enables software companies to extend the life cycle of a product, ensuring its viability and existance in the market for a long time. There are many companies around the world, violating the Asterisk GPL code and proprietary licensing scheme – by doing so, they are cutting the branch they are sitting on. The more violations happen, the weaker the project becomes, thus, at some point in time will break the entire existance model of the project. If you are looking into embedding Asterisk into a commercial product, talk to a consultant, go to an Asterisk class and learn the various aspects, both technical and legal, of its integration and usage in a commercial product.

My initial Linux days started back in 1996, when certification was mainly reserved from companies like Cisco, Microsoft and Oracle. I remember my first certification course, I got sent to a Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 certification course (fully paid by the Israeli army) – that was around 1995. I remember coming into the class room for almost 2 weeks, studying every day from 8am till around 6pm, at the end of the course to take a test – which I at first deemed as completely redundant. However, as the course progressed, I was amazed at how little did I really know. Sure, I knew quite a lot about how to manage and build a server from scratch, but I had no in-depth knowledge of how the Operating System is structured, nor the various constraints that Windows NT 3.51 had at the time. In other words, where I deemed the entire thing as redundant and at most boring, I ended up learning things that I didn’t even realize I needed to know.

Coming the year 2000, Linux certification became more and more common. I can still remember the Linux certification wars: RHCE vs. LPI vs. SAIR vs. GNU vs. all the other world. There was no authoritative answer to the million dollar question: “What is the best certification for Linux?” – however, the world realized that certification for Linux is a must. Why was it a must? simple – it was a differentiating factor for employers and HR agents. Employers and HR agents have no idea if the person sitting across the table is knowledgeable, experienced or at worst – has a slight clue about the job at hand. The certification is their easiest, most measurable tool to evaluate their candidate. Sure, when someone has 10 years of experience, you can take all the certs and simply put these in the trash bin, actually, if a candidate has too many certifications it means one thing – the guy knows nothing and only knows how to study for tests. With a lack of a better measure for competence, a certification is the most common tool to use.

Asterisk certification, the Digium Certified Asterisk Professional (dCAP) certification is a proof that you are knowledgable with Asterisk, you have a valid clue of what you are doing and you were able to pass a practical exam. You may argue that Asterisk certification is very new and holding a cert for Asterisk may prove to be futile, however, I don’t believe so. I started working with Asterisk in 2002, showing it to various people in Israel and around the world. Back then, people regarded me as a crazy man, trying to promote a product that would surely disappear from the market in less than 2 years. It’s 2009 now, 7 years later, Asterisk is stronger than ever and only growing stronger. At this time, getting yourself certified for Asterisk is best course of action you can take. You’re probably saying to yourself: “of course he’s saying that, he’s a training partner and he wants people to pay him money to take the test!” – well, you are partially correct – I do want you to take the cert, but not because you’ll need to pay $300, simply because the more certified engineers out there, the job of installing Asterisk in tier-1 and enterprise scenarios becomes easier.