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OpenWrtDocs

1. About OpenWrt

OpenWrt is an extensible Linux distribution that runs on Linksys WRT54G/GS routers, as well as some related hardware. Unlike many other distributions for these routers, OpenWrt is built from the ground up to be a full-featured, easily modifiable operating system for your router. In practice, this means that you can have all the features you need with none of the bloat, powered by a Linux kernel that's more recent than most other distributions.

2. Why should I run OpenWrt?

Because the open architecture enables you to use stateful packet inspection, intrusion detection, and any number of other things that normally require several thousand dollars worth of hardware to do effectively.

At the moment there are more than 100 software packages in the official repository, and many more provided by the community. The number of packages is evidence of the effectiveness of the !OpenWRT build system, which provides the opportunity to easily port packages and create your own firmware.

3. OpenWrt Version History

The project started in January 2004. The first OpenWrt versions were based on Linksys GPL sources for WRT54G and a buildroot from the uclibc project. This version was known as OpenWrt "stable release" and was widely in use. There are still many OpenWrt applications, like the Freifunk-Firmware or Sip@Home, which are based on this version.

In the beginning of 2005 some new developers joined the team. After some months of closed development the team decided to publish the first "experimental" versions of OpenWrt. The experimental versions use a heavily customized build system based on buildroot2 from the uclibc project. OpenWrt uses official GNU/Linux kernel sources and only adds patches for the system on chip and drivers for the network interfaces. The developer team tries to reimplement most of the proprietary code inside the GPL tarballs of the different vendors. There are free tools for writing new firmware images directly into the flash (mtd), for configuring the wireless lan chip (wlcompat/wificonf) and to program the VLAN-capable switch via the proc filesystem. The codename of the first OpenWrt release is "White Russian", a popular cocktail. Currently, the development of the White Russian line has ended with the release of OpenWrt 0.9.

The development of the next release is taking place in our subversion repository. It will contain support for many more embedded boards. Its codename is Kamikaze.

3.1. Versions of OpenWrt based on the BusyBox builds