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Revision as of 17:16, 1 June 2006 by 201.17.137.10 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Sveasoft is a Stockton, California based software company that develops modified distributions of 802.11g wireless router firmware for Linksys models WRT54G and WRT54GS home routers. The firmware is "flashed", or uploaded via TFTP to the router, replacing the manufacturer's official firmware, giving the router a different set of options.
Features
Sveasoft firmware is typically advertised as being able to increase the router's radio transmission power from 28 milliwatts to 251 milliwatts, as well as being able to use 14 channels for 802.11b transmissions instead of the 11 normally permitted in the U.S. or 13 permitted elsewhere.
Other features include QoS support, Wireless Distribution System support, wireless bridging, client mode support (CPE), a PPTP VPN server and client, downloadable packages and Next-generation Internet Protocol (IPv6) support.
The latest version of the Talisman firmware supports up to 16 Ethernet VLANs, up to 15 virtual wireless VLANs each with their own WEP, WPA, or WPA2 encryption and SSID, and bandwidth management and firewall features.
Sveasoft has announced several new Talisman firmware versions are in development including Talisman/Hotspot, Talisman/VPN (with IPSec support), Talisman/Mesh (automatic mesh networking), and Talisman/VoIP.
Firmware versions
Satori
Satori, along with many other minor releases, is one of the earliest Sveasoft firmware development projects. Nearly all the projects have been halted to develop the Alchemy revisions. It is not recommended to use these earlier firmware releases.
Alchemy
This is the current "public" release, which Sveasoft distributes to both subscribers and non-subscribers. Development has ceased for Alchemy in favor of further development of Talisman, though unofficial development continues to this day. As one of the most mature Sveasoft firmware releases, most people use Alchemy.
Talisman
This is the latest Sveasoft firmware release, which Sveasoft distributes solely to developers and subscribers. Talisman is available in several versions, some for general use (Talisman/Basic and Talisman/Micro), and some specialized versions such as Talisman/VPN, Talisman/Hotspot, Talisman/Mesh, and Talisman/VoIP.
OEM versions of Talisman firmware are available on request.
Software licensing
The WRT54G router runs a version of Linux. Many of the software packages in the firmware are licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), including the Linux kernel. Some of the software packages are under other licenses, and some of those parts are closed source.
Sveasoft provides firmware under an annual subscription for 20 U.S. dollars, which also gives access to the support forum. Talisman requires that the MAC addresses of each router are registered on Sveasoft's web site. The web site software writes each authorized MAC address to the firmware before it is downloaded and it will only work on those devices. Sveasoft allows users to download old, released versions of the firmware for free.
GPL disputes
Since the Alchemy firmware was released some have questioned Sveasoft's distribution model in light of GPL license restrictions, under which some parts of the firmware source code are based . While not necessarily charging for the software, they charged a yearly fee for access to both the software and support. Alan Cox, a leading Linux kernel developer, supported Sveasoft's model on the Linux Kernel Mailing List .
Peter Brown, the Free Software Foundation's compliance officer, also seemed to support Sveasoft stating: "If the software is licensed under the GPL, and you distribute the source code with the binaries (as opposed to making an offer for source code), you are under no obligation to supply future releases to anyone."
On March 11th 2006, the OpenWRT developers publicly announced that Sveasoft had violated its GPL license terms, and that Sveasoft's continuing distribution of OpenWRT was prohibited. In return Sveasoft claimed that OpenWRT was illegally distributing software copyrighted by Sveasoft and Broadcom under the GPL. Both parties deny each other's allegations.
External links
- Sveasoft - official site.
- Sveasoft - binary repository
- Open and Shut - Robert X. Cringely comments on the Sveasoft versus GPL debate.
Technical
- Linksys - distributor of original WRT54G firmware and source code.
- Wrt54g.net - official download site for public versions of Sveasoft firmware.
- Flash/audio - shows how to configure a Linksys WRT54G with Sveasoft firmware to share a broadband connection as a free Hotspot.
- Linksysinfo.org - redistributor of Sveasoft firmware.