[TriLUG] No more Linux on WRT54G???

[Greg Brown]

What model do you have?  A WRT54G or GS?  The GS has more ram and more
ability to run cool things.  You can run almost anything you can
complile or imagine on these things.  I'd say go the OpenWRT way right
away (or whatever Linux you so choose).  Here is a quick package
manger dump of the things I can install on my OpenWRT (I'm sure you
can find something compelling to run in there (wl is my favorite
tool)):

ipkg list
aiccu - 2005.01.31-1 - SixXS Automatic IPv6 Connectivity Client Utility
arptables - 0.0.3-1 - ARP firewalling software
arpwatch - 2.1a11-1 - Ethernet monitor program for keeping track of
ethernet/ip address pairings
asterisk - 1.0.7-1 - An open source PBX
asterisk-codec-ilbc - 1.0.7-1 - an Internet Low Bitrate Codec (ILBC)
Translator for Asterisk
asterisk-codec-lpc10 - 1.0.7-1 - an LPC10 (Linear Predictor Code)
2.4kbps Voice Coder for Asterisk
asterisk-codec-speex - 1.0.7-1 - a Speex/PCM16 Codec Translator for Asterisk
asterisk-mysql - 1.0.7-1 - MySQL modules for Asterisk
asterisk-pbx-dundi - 1.0.7-1 - Distributed Universal Number Discovery
(DUNDi) support for Asterisk
asterisk-pgsql - 1.0.7-1 - PostgreSQL modules for Asterisk
asterisk-sounds - 1.0.7-1 - a sounds collection for Asterisk
asterisk-voicemail - 1.0.7-1 - VoiceMail related modules for Asterisk
autoipd - 1.0.0-1 - an IPv4 Link-Local address self-assigner daemon
base-files - 2 - OpenWrt filesystem structure and scripts
base-files-brcm - 1 - Board/architecture specific files
bridge - 1.0.6-1 - Ethernet bridging tools
busybox - 1.00-2 - Core utilities for embedded Linux systems
bwm - 1.1.0-1 - A very tiny bandwidth monitor
chat - 2.4.3-6 - Utility for establishing a connection with the ISP's
PPP server (e.g. via Modem)
chillispot - 1.0RC3-1 - ChilliSpot is a Wireless LAN Access Point Controller.
cifsmount - 1.5-2 - mount.cifs helper application for mounting remote
CIFS shares
cups - 1.1.23-1 - Common Unix Printing System
dhcp-forwarder - 0.7-4 - a DHCP relay agent
dnsmasq - 2.22-2 - A lightweight DNS and DHCP server
dnsmasq - 2.22-1 -
dropbear - 0.45-3 - a small SSH 2 server/client designed for small
memory environments.
dropbear - 0.45-2 -
dsniff - 2.3-2 - collection of tools for network auditing and
penetration testing
ebtables - 2.0.6-1 - Ethernet bridge firewalling software
ez-ipupdate - 3.0.11b8-1 - a client for dynamic DNS services
fping - 2.4b2_to-ipv6-1 - A program to ping hosts in parallel
fprobe - 1.1-1 - NetFlow probe
freeradius - 1.0.2-2 - a flexible RADIUS server
freeradius-democerts - 1.0.2-2 - a set of certificates to test FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-chap - 1.0.2-2 - a CHAP module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-eap - 1.0.2-2 - an EAP module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-eap-gtc - 1.0.2-2 - an EAP/GTC module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-eap-md5 - 1.0.2-2 - an EAP/MD5 module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-eap-mschapv2 - 1.0.2-2 - an EAP/MS-CHAPv2 module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-eap-peap - 1.0.2-2 - an EAP/PEAP module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-eap-tls - 1.0.2-2 - an EAP/TLS module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-eap-ttls - 1.0.2-2 - an EAP/TTLS module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-files - 1.0.2-2 - a module for FreeRADIUS, using local
files for authorization
freeradius-mod-ldap - 1.0.2-2 - an LDAP module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-mschap - 1.0.2-2 - an MS-CHAP and MS-CHAPv2 module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-pap - 1.0.2-2 - a PAP module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-sql - 1.0.2-2 - an SQL module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-sql-mysql - 1.0.2-2 - a MySQL module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-sql-pgsql - 1.0.2-2 - a PostgreSQL module for FreeRADIUS
freeradius-mod-sqlcounter - 1.0.2-2 - a Generic SQL Counter module for
FreeRADIUS
freeradius-utils - 1.0.2-2 - some client utilities for FreeRADIUS
frickin - 1.3-1 - PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) proxy
fuse-utils - 2.2.1-1 - Filesystem in Userspace (utilities)
glib1 - 1.2.10-1 - The GLib library of C routines
haserl - 0.8.0-1 - a CGI wrapper to embed shell scripts in HTML documents
hotplug - 2 - Hotplug script for WDS
howl-utils - 1.0.0-1 - a ZeroConf (aka RendezVous) implementation (utilities)
htpdate - 0.8.2-1 - an HTP (Hypertext Time Protocol) implementation
ip - 2.6.11-050330-1 - iproute2 routing control utility
ip6tables - 1.3.1-1 - The netfilter firewalling software for IPv6
ipkg - 0.99.149-2 - lightweight package management system
ipkg - 0.99.145-1 -
iptables - 1.3.1-1 - The netfilter firewalling software for IPv4
iptables-extra - 1.3.1-1 - Extra plugins for iptables
iptables-utils - 1.3.1-1 - iptables-save and iptables-restore
kismet - 2005-08-R1-1 - kismet
kismet-client - 2005-08-R1-1 - The kismet client
kismet-drone - 2005-08-R1-1 - The kismet drone
kismet-server - 2005-08-R1-1 - The kismet server
kmod-arptables - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - ARP firewalling kernel modules
kmod-b44 - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Free driver for Broadcom 44Xx, 47XX Ethernet chipset
kmod-brcm-et - 2.4.30-1 -
kmod-brcm-et - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Proprietary driver for Broadcom Ethernet chipsets
kmod-brcm-wl - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Proprietary driver for Broadcom Wireless chipsets
kmod-brcm-wl - 2.4.30-1 -
kmod-cifs - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for CIFS support
kmod-crypto - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - CryptoAPI kernel modules
kmod-diag - 2.4.30-1 -
kmod-diag - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Driver for Router LEDs and Buttons
kmod-ext2 - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for EXT2 filesystem support
kmod-ext3 - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for EXT3 filesystem support
kmod-fuse - 2.4.30brcm+2.2.1-1 - Filesystem in Userspace (kernel module)
kmod-gre - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel GRE tunneling support
kmod-hfsplus - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for HFS+ filesystem support
kmod-ide - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules IDE support
kmod-ip6tables - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for ip6tables
kmod-iptables-extra - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Extra kernel modules for iptables
kmod-ipv6 - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for the IPv6 protocol
kmod-loop - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel module for mount loopback support
kmod-lp - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for parallel port support and
line printer
kmod-madwifi - 2.4.30brcm+2005-08-13-1 - Driver for Atheros
802.11a/b/g MiniPCI cards
kmod-mppe - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Microsoft PPP Encryption/Compression support
kmod-nfs - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for NFS support
kmod-openswan - 2.4.30brcm+2.3.1-1 - Openswan IPSec kernel module
kmod-ppp - 2.4.30-1 -
kmod-ppp - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - PPP support
kmod-pppoe - 2.4.30-1 -
kmod-pppoe - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - PPP over Ethernet support
kmod-pwc - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel driver for USB Philips Cameras
kmod-sched - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel schedulers for IP traffic
kmod-shfs - 2.4.30brcm+0.35-2 - SHell FileSystem Linux kernel module
kmod-tun - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel TUN/TAP extension
kmod-usb-core - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel Support for USB
kmod-usb-ohci - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel driver for OHCI USB controllers
kmod-usb-printer - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for USB Printer support
kmod-usb-storage - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for USB storage support
kmod-usb-uhci - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel driver for UHCI USB controllers
kmod-usb2 - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel driver for USB2 controllers
kmod-vfat - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for VFAT filesystem support
kmod-videodev - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Video For Linux kernel support
kmod-wlcompat - 2.4.30-1 -
kmod-wlcompat - 2.4.30-brcm-3 - Compatibility module for using the
Wireless Extension with broadcom's wl
kmod-wlcompat-debug - 2.4.30-brcm-3 - Compatibility module for using
the Wireless Extension with broadcom's wl (debug)
kmod-xfs - 2.4.30-brcm-2 - Kernel modules for XFS filesystem support
l2tpd - 0.70pre-1 - A layer 2 tunneling protocol implementation.
lcd4linux - 0.10.0-RC1-1 - lcd software
libdb - 4.3.28-0 - disk file format database which stores
key/data-pairs in single files
libelf - 0.8.5-1 - a library for accessing ELF objects
libevent - 1.1-1 - Event notification library for event-driven network servers
libfuse - 2.2.1-1 - Filesystem in Userspace (library)
libgcc - 3.4.4-2 - GCC support library
libgd - 2.0.33-1 - A library for the dynamic creation of images
libgdbm - 1.8.3-0 - disk file format database which stores
key/data-pairs in single files
libgmp - 4.1.4-1 - GNU multiprecision arithmetic library
libhowl - 1.0.0-1 - a ZeroConf (aka RendezVous) implementation (library)
libltdl - 1.5.14-1 - a generic dynamic object loading library
liblua - 5.0.2-1 - LUA programming language shared libraries
liblzo - 1.08-1 - a real-time data compression library
libmatrixssl - 1.2.4-1 - an embedded SSL implementation
libmysqlclient - 4.0.24-2 - MySQL client library
libncurses - 5.2-7 - a terminal handling library and common terminal definitions
libnet - 1.0.2a-7 - a low-level packet creation library
libnetsnmp - 5.1.2-1 - SNMP shared libraries
libnids - 1.18-0 - implementation of an E-component of Network
Intrusion Detection System.
libopenldap - 2.2.26-1 - OpenLDAP (Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol) client libraries
libopenssl - 0.9.7g-1 - OpenSSL (Secure Socket Layer) libraries
libosip2 - 2.2.0-1 - GNU oSIP library, a SIP (Session Initiation
Protocol) implementation
libpcap - 0.8.3-1 - a low-level packet capture library
libpcre - 5.0-3 - a Perl Compatible Regular Expression library
libpng - 1.2.8-1 - A library for reading/writing PNG images
libpopt - 1.7-4 - a command line option parsing library
libpq - 7.4.7-3 - PostgreSQL client library
libpthread - 0.9.27-1 - POSIX threads library
libreadline - 5.0-1 - Command lines edition library
libsasl2 - 2.1.20-1 - a general purpose authentication library
libspeex - 1.1.8-1 - an open source patent-free speech compression codec
libsqlite - 3.2.1-1 - Self-contained, embeddable, zero-configuration
SQL database engine
libusb - 0.1.10a-1 - a Library for accessing Linux USB devices
lighttpd - 1.3.13-2 - a flexible and lightweight web server,
lighttpd-mod-alias - 1.3.13-2 - a directory alias module for lighttpd
lighttpd-mod-auth - 1.3.13-2 - an authentication module for lighttpd
lighttpd-mod-cgi - 1.3.13-2 - a CGI module for lighttpd
lighttpd-mod-proxy - 1.3.13-2 - a proxy module for lighttpd
lighttpd-mod-redirect - 1.3.13-2 - an url redirection module for lighttpd
lighttpd-mod-rewrite - 1.3.13-2 - an url rewriting module for lighttpd
lighttpd-mod-setenv - 1.3.13-2 - an environment variable setting
module for lighttpd
lighttpd-mod-simple-vhost - 1.3.13-2 - a simple virtual hosting module
for lighttpd
lighttpd-mod-status - 1.3.13-2 - a server status display module for lighttpd
lighttpd-mod-usertrack - 1.3.13-2 - an user tracking module for lighttpd
lsusb - 0.71-1 - A program to list USB devices
lua - 5.0.2-1 - LUA programming language interpreter
lua-examples - 5.0.2-1 - LUA programming language examples
luac - 5.0.2-1 - LUA programming language compiler
madwifi-tools - 2005-08-13-1 - Driver utilities for Atheros
802.11a/b/g MiniPCI cards
maradns - 1.0.26-1 - MaraDNS is a small, secure DNS Server
mdnsresponder - 1.0.0-1 - an mDNS (Multicast DNS) service responder daemon
microcom - 1.02-1 - serial terminal
microperl - 5.8.6-1 - Perl without operating-specific functions such as readdir.
monit - 4.5.1-1 - an utility for system services monitoring
mtd - 2 - Tool for modifying the flash chip
mtd-static - 2 - Tool for modifying the flash chip (statically linked)
ndisc6 - 0.1.4-1 - ICMPv6 Neighbour Discovery tool
nfacctd - 0.8.6-1 - a NetFlow accounting daemon,
nfacctd-mysql - 0.8.6-1 - a NetFlow accounting daemon,
nfacctd-pgsql - 0.8.6-1 - a NetFlow accounting daemon,
nfs-server - 2.2beta47-2 - User space NFS server
nifd - 1.0.0-1 - a network interface monitor daemon
nmap - 3.81-1 - Nmap is a free open source utility for network
exploration or security auditing.
nocatsplash - 0.92-1 - NoCatSplash is an Open Public Network Gateway Daemon.
ntpclient - 2003_194-1 - NTP client for setting system time from NTP servers.
nvram - 1 - NVRAM utility and libraries for Broadcom hardware
olsrd - 0.4.9-1 - The olsr.org OLSR daemon
olsrd-mod-dot-draw - 0.4.9-1 - a dot topology information plugin for olsrd
olsrd-mod-dyn-gw - 0.4.9-1 - a dynamic internet gateway plugin for olsrd
olsrd-mod-httpinfo - 0.4.9-1 - a small informative web server plugin for olsrd
olsrd-mod-nameservice - 0.4.9-1 - a lightweight hostname resolver
plugin for olsrd
olsrd-mod-power - 0.4.9-1 - a power status plugin for olsrd
olsrd-mod-secure - 0.4.9-1 - a message signing plugin to secure olsrd
routing domain
openldap-utils - 2.2.26-1 - OpenLDAP (Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol) client utilities
openntpd - 3.6.1p1-1 - OpenNTPD is a FREE, easy to use implementation of NTP
openssh-client - 4.0p1-1 - OpenSSH client
openssh-client-utils - 4.0p1-1 - OpenSSH client utilities
openssh-server - 4.0p1-1 - OpenSSH server
openssh-sftp-client - 4.0p1-1 - OpenSSH SFTP client
openssh-sftp-server - 4.0p1-1 - OpenSSH SFTP server
openssl-util - 0.9.7g-1 - OpenSSL (Secure Socket Layer) command line tool
openswan - 2.3.1-1 - Openswan IPSec software
openvpn - 2.0.2-1 - Open Source VPN solution using SSL
openwrt-utils - 1 -
osirisd - 4.1.8-1 - an Host Integrity Monitoring System (scanning agent)
pgsql-cli - 7.4.7-3 - Command Line Interface (CLI) to PostgreSQL databases
picocom - 1.4-1 - minimal dumb-terminal emulation program
pmacct-client - 0.8.6-1 - a command-line client for pmacctd or nfacctd,
pmacctd - 0.8.6-1 - an IP accounting daemon,
pmacctd-mysql - 0.8.6-1 - an IP accounting daemon,
pmacctd-pgsql - 0.8.6-1 - an IP accounting daemon,
portmap - 5beta-2 - The RPC Portmapper
ppp - 2.4.3-4 -
ppp - 2.4.3-6 - a PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) daemon (with MPPE/MPPC support)
ppp-mod-pppoe - 2.4.3-4 -
ppp-mod-pppoe - 2.4.3-6 - a PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet) plugin for PPP
ppp-mod-radius - 2.4.3-6 - a RADIUS plugin for PPP
pppdump - 2.4.3-6 - an utility to read PPP record file
pppstats - 2.4.3-6 - an utility to report PPP statistics
pptp - 1.6.0-2 - a Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) client
pptpd - 1.2.3-1 - a Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) server
quagga - 0.98.4-1 - A routing software package that provides TCP/IP
quagga-bgpd - 0.98.4-1 - A BGPv4, BGPv4+, BGPv4- routing engine for
use with Quagga
quagga-ospf6d - 0.98.4-1 - An OSPFv3 routing engine for use with Quagga
quagga-ospfd - 0.98.4-1 - An OSPFv2 routing engine for use with Quagga
quagga-ripd - 0.98.4-1 - A RIP routing engine for use with Quagga
quagga-ripngd - 0.98.4-1 - A RIPNG routing engine for use with Quagga
quagga-vtysh - 0.98.4-1 - integrated shell for interacting with Quagga
radvd - 0.7.3-1 - Routing Advertisement Daemon for IPv6
rdisc6 - 0.1.4-1 - ICMPv6 Router Discovery tool
robocfg - 0.01-1 - Broadcom BCM5325E/536x switch configuration utility
rsync - 2.6.5-0 - utility that provides fast incremental file transfer
screen - 4.0.2-1 - A 'window manager' for the terminal session
ser - 0.8.14-1 - SIP Express Router
setserial - 2.17-1 - configuration utility for serial ports
shat - 0.9.7-1 - Source Hardware Address Translation - a tool for
"nomadic routing"
siproxd - 0.5.11-2 - a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) proxy
sipsak - 0.8.12-1 - a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) stress and
diagnostics utility
snmp-utils - 5.1.2-1 - SNMP client utilities
snmpd - 5.1.2-1 - SNMP agent
snort - 2.3.3-1 - a flexible Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS),
snort-mysql - 2.3.3-1 - a flexible Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS),
snort-pgsql - 2.3.3-1 - a flexible Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS),
sqlite-cli - 3.2.1-1 - Command Line Interface (CLI) for SQLite
strace - 4.5.11-1 - System call trace program
tc - 2.6.11-050330-1 - iproute2 traffic control utility
tcpdump - 3.8.3-1 - A tool for network monitoring and data acquisition.
tinc - 1.0.4-1 - VPN tunnel daemon
tor - 0.1.0.9rc-1 - An anonymous Internet communication system
ttcp - 3.8-1 - A small utility to test TCP connection performance
uclibc - 0.9.27-2 - Standard C library for embedded Linux systems
uclibc++ - 0.1.11-1 - A standard c++ library for embedded systems
ulogd - 1.23-1 - Netfilter userspace logging daemon
ulogd-mysql-plugin - 1.23-1 - Netfilter userspace logging daemon (MySQL plugin)
ulogd-pgsql-plugin - 1.23-1 - Netfilter userspace logging daemon
(PostgreSQL plugin)
vsftpd - 1.2.2-1 - a fast and secure FTP server
vtun - 2.6-1 - A VPN tunnel daemon
wificonf - 4 - Replacement utility for wlconf
wireless-tools - 28.pre6-1 -
wireless-tools - 28.pre7-1 - Tools for setting up WiFi cards using the
Wireless Extension
wl - 3.50.21.10 -
wol - 0.7.1-1 - A Program to send magic Wake-on-LAN packets
wpa-supplicant - 0.3.8-2 - WPA Supplicant with support for WPA and WPA2
wput - 0.5-1 - a wget-like command-line FTP client
xinetd - 2.3.13-2 - a powerful and secure superserver
zlib - 1.2.2-1 -
zlib - 1.2.2-2 - an implementation of the deflate compression method (library)


On 11/11/05, Chad Thomsen <chad.thomsen at gmail.com> wrote:
> Can you run iptables on this wireless router? I have an older one and have
> often though about hacking it and thowing linux on it becasue I heard it
> could be done. What are other possibilites that you can use the box for and
> still get *good* performance out of it. I don't want to bog it down too much
> as its true/original function in my home network is a wireless
> router/AP/switch and I don't want to hurt that function.
>
> Anybody care to share what they have done with theres?
>
> Chad
>
> On 11 Nov 2005 03:57:07 -0500, Jon Carnes <jonc at nc.rr.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, 2005-11-10 at 12:10, Phillip Rhodes wrote:
> > > Ok, so I saw this blog post:
> > >
> > > <http://weblog.infoworld.com/smbit/archives/2005/11/diy_cutting_edg.html
> > >
> > >
> > > which states that newer WRT54G's have a "different operating system, not
> > > subject to the new open source add-ons."
> > >
> > > Does anybody know anything about this? Have they abandoned Linux
> > completely,
> > > or is this guy misinformed, or what? It seems
> > > like changing OS's would be a pretty major change while keeping the same
> > > model number... I also wonder what OS they might
> > > have switched to, and why they would switch?
> > >
> > > Ok, the "why" question is indirectly addressed in his entry, but I kinda
> > > doubt that most businesses that would
> > > otherwise be buying $1000+ Cisco routers are instead using WRT54G's with
> > > open-source firmware. Or are they?
> > >
> > >
> > > TTYL,
> > >
> > > Phil
> >
> > First off, before the advent of the WRT54G we used a Cisco 860 router
> > when we wanted QoS at a remote client site. That box sold for around
> > $800 and was a royal PITA to configure correctly. We only sold two of
> > those Cisco 860 boxes.
> >
> > Since the advent of the WRT54G-S we have sold in excess of 50 to our
> > remote users and our clients have gone out and bought at least as many
> > of them.
> >
> > So yes, it did cut into their higher end market - but just barely.
> >
> > I think that once Cisco stumbled across the GPLed software in the WRT54G
> > they did two things:
> > - release the code (as required by the GPL)
> > - mandate a complete rewrite/code replacement for the units
> >
> > I'm sure both decisions came down at the same time. Corporations being
> > as they are (and Cisco more so than others), it simply took them this
> > long to rewrite/replace the code in the WRT54G with non-GPL code.
> >
> > I think this has been in the works since the release of the initial
> > code. Cisco, being Cisco simply did not anticipate the great wealth and
> > knowledge that would be generated by keeping the source open on these
> > units... and they probably *still* don't. :-)
> >
> > Don't worry though. The WRT54G is a standard form factor and there are
> > folks out there (are you listening Tom Billman) who order these things
> > all the time and put their own OSes on them. As long as the demand is
> > alive I don't think the supply will run out anytime soon. You just won't
> > be able to get one with "Linksys" or "Cisco" printed on the side.
> >
> > Jon
> >
> > --
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> >
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