On Sun, 23 Apr 2006, Joel Jaeggli wrote: > On Sun, 23 Apr 2006, Temlakos wrote: > > > Eugen Leitl wrote: > >> On Sun, Apr 23, 2006 at 03:07:21PM -0500, Mike Chambers wrote: > >> > >>> On Sun, 2006-04-23 at 21:19 +0200, Eugen Leitl wrote: > >>> > >>> > >>>> Linksys hardware is ok. Just don't use Linksys firmware. > >>> > >>> Where else would you get firmware besides Linksys? Never new anything > >>> outside Linksys existed until now. > >> > >> > >> Linksys got caught violating GPL, and were forced to post sources. > >> Multiple forks sprang up, with literally dozens of alternative > >> firmware sources available. > >> > >> I'm recommending OpenWRT, but there are several more suitable (coming > >> with a rich GUI): > >> > >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G > >> > >> > >> > > > > Maybe that explains why Linksys issued "Version Five" of their router, with > > only half the RAM and EEPROM, and a proprietary "operating system." But I > > digress. > > No, according to them, the cheaper bill of materials justifies the vxworks > liscense. The one that continues to have 16MB of ram/4MB flash is about > $20 more. That would be the wrt54GL. Linksys is at least for now continuing to produce this model just for linux enthusiasts. I just ordered another one from newegg last night. If you enjoy playing with such things it is a lot of fun. Warning to do most useful things you MUST be comfortable with a linux command line. There are gui's available but generally speaking you do not get most of the functionality from them. AS far as what you can really do with them have a look at the pages @ openwrt.org for a start. RC5 was just released a couple of weeks ago. > > > I'm more interested in what one can do with OpenWRT or another Linux-embed OS > > for router boxes, that one cannot do with the factory-default OS. I've heard There is nothing that I am aware of that openwrt can do that you cannot do with a "factory-default OS". The advantage is you get can get a very capable embedded system for under $70.00 US. It has its limitations but don't let that fool you. Openwrt is running a 2.4.30 kernel, so you can conceivably do anything with it you could do with a full blown machine, provided you can do it in 16 megs of memory. In addition you get a whopping 2 megs of storage. I know that does not sound like much but if you look at the package list available for these things you will quickly see that even with its limitations there are a bunch of things you can do. In addition the thing has very low power consumption. > > that one can establish VPN's with a minimum of fuss. True? And if so, how? Openwrt.org has a lot of the details but if you are looking gui's you are for the most part looking in the wrong place. Openwrt for instance has one but even in RC5 it is far from complete. HTH, Tom Diehl tdiehl@xxxxxxxxxxxx Spamtrap address mtd123@xxxxxxxxxxxx
