{"id":233,"date":"2005-12-01T23:18:09","date_gmt":"2005-12-02T04:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/?p=233"},"modified":"2005-12-01T23:18:09","modified_gmt":"2005-12-02T04:18:09","slug":"take-the-wrt54g-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/?p=233","title":{"rendered":"Take the WRT54G challenge!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So, LinkSys (formerly independent, now a tentacle of Cisco) has<br \/>\nbrought the Linux version of their WRT54GL wireless router back to<br \/>\nlife.  We&#8217;d previously heard that Version 5 of the box would run<br \/>\nproprietary VxWorks firmware. But according to <a href='http:\/\/www.linuxdevices.com\/news\/NS4729641740.html'>this<br \/>\nstory<\/a> over at LinuxDevices.com,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nLinkSys is shipping a Linux-based WRT54GL model that it says it<br \/>\ncreated specially for Linux hobbyists, hackers, and aficianados[sic]. The L<br \/>\nversion is identical to the &#8220;series 4&#8221; WRT54G units that Linux<br \/>\nhobbyists have long enjoyed hacking, according to the company. [&#8230;]\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the key &#8216;graf:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nVxWorks allowed the company to halve the amounts of Flash and RAM in<br \/>\nthe device, while retaining similar functionality. Apparently,<br \/>\nreducing memory-related BOM (bill-of-materials) costs more than offset<br \/>\nthe costs of licensing a proprietary OS\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>You know, to me that sounds like a challenge.  Personally, I have<br \/>\nno firmware-hacking or cross-development skills; my interests lie in<br \/>\nother directions.  But some eager band of Linux hackers out there<br \/>\nshould strip Linux down far enough that it can fit in the reduced<br \/>\nfootprint, just to prove it can be done and undercut the idea that<br \/>\nproprietary firmware is <em>ever<\/em> a good idea.  And I have no<br \/>\ndoubt it can be done; heck, we&#8217;ve made Linux run on a Z80!<\/p>\n<p>(I maintain the<br \/>\n<a href='http:\/\/en.tldp.org\/HOWTO\/Linksys-Blue-Box-Router-HOWTO\/'>Linksys<br \/>\nBlue Box Router HOWTO<\/a>.  There might be a new version, reflecting the<br \/>\nfact that Cisco has dropped its lawsuit against Michael Flynn, up on the<br \/>\nLDP site by the time you read this.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, LinkSys (formerly independent, now a tentacle of Cisco) has brought the Linux version of their WRT54GL wireless router back to life. We&#8217;d previously heard that Version 5 of the box would run proprietary VxWorks firmware. But according to this story over at LinuxDevices.com, LinkSys is shipping a Linux-based WRT54GL model that it says it&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/?p=233\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Take the WRT54G challenge!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-software","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/esr.ibiblio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}