FreeWRT

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FreeWRT
Developed by freewrt.org
Latest release FreeWRT 1.0.3
OS Linux
Genre Router-OS
License GPL
Website 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) 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.

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[edit] 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).

[edit] Supported Hardware

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

[edit] Asus

[edit] Linksys

[edit] Netgear

  • WGT634u

[edit] 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:

[edit] Full support

[edit] Partial support

[edit] 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.)

[edit] See also

Free software Portal

[edit] External links

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