FreeWRT

Infobox_Software
name= FreeWRT


caption=
Description=Open Source RouterOS
developer= [http://freewrt.org/ freewrt.org]
latest release version=FreeWRT 1.0.3
latest release date=
operating system=Linux
genre= Router-OS
license= GPL
website= [http://freewrt.org/ freewrt.org]

FreeWRT is a Linux distribution for embedded systems like wireless routers by Linksys and Asus. It is a fork of the OpenWrt project.The name FreeWRT is not to be confused with another (now discontinued) [http://freewrt.narod.ru/ project] with the same name, that copied the Sveasoft firmware and made it freely available.The fork was motivated by the communication structure of the OpenWrt development community, described as intransparent by the FreeWRT founders, as well as the wish for a reliable embedded Open Source operating system matching the requirements of a commercial environment. Unfortunately just like with OpenWRT not all features are yet available with open source software. For example wifi support on wrt54gl needs a proprietary wl.o kernel module that is only available for linux 2.4. [cite web|url=http://wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Hardware/Linksys/WRT54GL|title=OpenWrtDocs/Hardware/Linksys/WRT54GL]

Main Interests

In contrast to OpenWrt, which mainly focuses on SoHo and home users, FreeWRT targets a professional market. This aim is to be achieved via a more stable codebase and predictable release cycles.The FreeWRT community tries to provide a low entry barrier for new developers and people generally interested in the project and maintains several mailing lists, a developer blog and several direct ways to contact all or individual developers (IRC channel, jabber contact, the developers individual e-mail addresses).

upported Hardware

To provide complete and exhaustive hardware support, FreeWRT concentrates on relatively few systems:

Asus

* Asus Routers

Linksys

* WRT54G version 2.0
* WRT54G version 2.2
* WRT54G version 3.0
* WRT54G version 3.1
* WRT54G version 4.0
* WRT54GL
* WRT54GS version 1.0
* WRT54GS version 1.1
* WRT54GS version 4
* WRT54G3G

Netgear

* WGT634u

See [http://www.freewrt.org/trac/wiki/Documentation/TargetSystems Supported Hardware]

Build System

There are two ways of getting FreeWRT: either use the WebImageBuilder on the homepage, which uses precompiled samples to build a custom package for download or use the OpenBSD-style build system to compile the distribution from source. Several host systems are supported for building:

Full support

* Debian GNU/Linux 3.1/4.0 (i386)
* Gentoo GNU/Linux (i386)
* Ubuntu GNU/Linux 6.06/6.10/7.04 (i386)
* Fedora Core 4 (i386)
* openSuse 10.2 (i386)

Partial support

* MirOS BSD (i386)
* OpenBSD 3.9/4.0/4.1 (i386, amd64)
* Mac OS X / Darwin

Features

FreeWRT uses either JFFS (writeable root-filesystem) or SquashFS as read-only root-filesystem in combination with a writable overlay filesystem.A large amount of additional software packages can be installed via ipkg, a package management system similar to the Debian-style dpkg.As a lot of peripheral hardware is supported (like webcams, USB soundcards, printers, USB harddisks) there is a vast amount of possible usage scenarios in combination with the available software (NAS, Print server, media player etc.)

ee also

* Linksys WRT54G series
* Buffalo AirStation
* Asus Routers

* Alternative firmwares
** DD-WRT
** OpenWRT
** Tomato Firmware

References

External links

* [http://www.freewrt.org/ Project homepage]
* [http://seclog.de/2006/09/11/interview-dont-open-your-wrt-free-it/ Interview with one of the FreeWRT founders explaining why they did fork]
* [http://www.wifi-info.de/profi-funktionen-fuer-linux-basierte-wlan-router-mit-freewrt/05/2007/ Test report on FreeWRT] (in German)
* [http://www.pro-linux.de/berichte/freewrt.html FreeWRT — Linux klein und fein] (Another review in German)