It is interesting to note that OpenWrt originated following a GPL enforcement action by Software Freedom Conservancy that saw the release of Linux kernel, busybox and other code. Also just after OpenWrt joined Conservancy recently, Conservancy announced their plan to enforce the GPL again, in another area of the consumer electronics space, with the intent to again use the result to create an open source solution for the devices being enforced against.<p><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/news/2020/oct/01/new-copyleft-strategy-launched-with-ARDC-grant/" rel="nofollow">https://sfconservancy.org/news/2020/oct/01/new-copyleft-stra...</a>
<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/enforcement-strategy.html" rel="nofollow">https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/enforcement-st...</a>
<a href="https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/firmware-liberation.html" rel="nofollow">https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/firmware-liber...</a>
If you are the person who uses rooted mobile then this is definitely your material. I had a router that stalled if i use torrent and had to reboot to get it to working. Then i explored and found this amazing project.<p>Router firmware's are fully of buggy and on top of that they abuse users just because they can <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24530009" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24530009</a><p>Buy a router that supports openwrt and you can block ads at the router level among a lot of other cool things.
OpenWRT is one of my favorite projects, I won't buy routers unless I can put OpenWRT on them. Also interesting is that it's become a general embedded Linux platform, too.
> older equipment is often saved from planned obsolescence by alternative solutions. [..] We seek to ensure they can do this for other types of electronic products. However, without the complete, corresponding source code (CCS), including the scripts to control its compilation and installation, the fundamental purpose of copyleft is frustrated. Consumers, hobbyists, non-profit e-recyclers and the general public are left without the necessary tools they need and deserve, and which the license promises them.<p>so true. OpenWrt is alot of networking fun and allows me to run a more current kernel on a measly (and perfectly fine for my uplink) MIPS device from 2012 than the one of the 450€ smartphone. But some chips will never see a reimplementation if datasheets and specs are missing. I pray for mainline kernel support, but while some SoC get integrated, GPU and peripherals are another story. As a consumer, this is sick. How is anybody even allowed to sell this way.<p>The 17th october marks the "international repair day" of the repair community. But even with "the right to repair" - without controlling the software, you still might hold a brick in your hands.
Are there any routers with open source WiFi drivers that also keep their firmware up to date? WRT1900AC/WRT3200ACM situation because worse after NXP bought Marvell:<p><a href="https://community.nxp.com/t5/Wireless-Connectivity/Drivers-for-88W8964/m-p/997496" rel="nofollow">https://community.nxp.com/t5/Wireless-Connectivity/Drivers-f...</a>
Well good for them... I think something had to change after this<p><a href="https://openwrt.org/advisory/2020-01-31-1" rel="nofollow">https://openwrt.org/advisory/2020-01-31-1</a><p>After I read that, I removed openwrt on an old mips wifi router I had been using for years and moved to a fanless x86_64 running a minimal normal distro, set up via nmcli.