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Comment by reustle | Hacker News Reader

Isn't most of Twilio's technology open source already?

http://www.openvbx.org

Twilio being open source - this is a HUGE misconception. Openvbx is just an application on top of Twilio and basically locks you in to the Twilio platform. That's the bitter truth. Plivo is a 100% open source version of what Twilio has been hiding from you.

The source is here https://github.com/plivo/plivo

It looks like Twilio's lowest layer isn't completely open source. OpenVBX still requires a Twilio account.

Whereas Plivo's lowest layer is FreeSWITCH, a pretty solid base. I'm pretty stoked about this, if only the page would come up.

Hey, http://www.plivo.org is up!

Yeah but it all ties into the Twilio service, so there is definitely space for a fork or for something like Plivo.

Changing the root web service URL for OpenVBX requires that you change one line of code. No need to even fork it.

I'm confused; looking at the OpenVBX page, under requirements: Web Server MySQL 5+ PHP 5.2+ recommended Twilio Account (link to twilio)

Automobile manufactures will tell you to use factory parts, too. Doesn't mean there aren't other compatible options.

OpenVBX would run on any platform that emulates Twilio's API. That includes Twilio (of course), Plivo, an Teleku (disclosure: now owned by us). There may be others out there as well.

Obviously that's not the hard part. Building your own Twilio is. I want to depend on multiple service providers, like you can do with Asterisk or FreeSWITCH. When X provider fails use Y provider. When Y provider is cheaper use Y. That's the true power of openness which OpenVBX has a vested interest in not providing.

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