OpenWrt, now 20 years old, is crafting its own future-proof reference hardware
'OpenWrt, the open source firmware that sprang from Linksys' use of open source code in its iconic WRT54G router and subsequent release of its work, is 20 years old this year. To keep the project going, lead developers have proposed creating a "fully upstream supported hardware design," one that would prevent the need for handling "binary blobs" in modern router hardware and let DIY router enthusiasts forge their own path. OpenWRT project members, 13 of which signed off on this hardware, are keeping the "OpenWrt One" simple, while including "some nice features we believe all OpenWrt supported platforms should have," including "almost unbrickable" low-level firmware, an on-board real-time clock with a battery backup, and USB-PD power. The price should be under $100 and the schematics and code publicly available. But OpenWrt will not be producing or selling these boards, "for a ton of reasons." The group is looking to the Banana Pi makers to distribute a fitting device, with every device producing a donation to the Software Freedom Conservancy earmarked for OpenWrt. That money could then be used for hosting expenses, or "maybe an OpenWrt summit."' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/openwrt-now-20-years-old-is-crafting... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ Mobile +64 22 190 2375 https://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/
On Wed, 24 Jan 2024 09:43:58 +1300, Peter Reutemann quoted:
'OpenWrt, the open source firmware that sprang from Linksys' use of open source code in its iconic WRT54G router and subsequent release of its work, is 20 years old this year.'
This linked item <https://tedium.co/2021/01/13/linksys-wrt54g-router-history/> is a good summary of how it all began. Linksys was using a chipset from Broadcom, who had outsourced the software development to a developer who had based it on Linux and BusyBox without telling them. So by the time Cisco acquired Linksys, it would have been difficult for any reasonable amount of pre-acquisition due diligence to pierce through all the layers to uncover what had happened. But that didn’t let them off the hook for GPL compliance, of course. Linksys (now owned by Belkin, which in turn has apparently been acquired by Foxconn) still sell routers which are direct descendants of that original WRT54G model, and which still support open-source firmware. Why? Because it has become a selling point.
participants (2)
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro -
Peter Reutemann