OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released [LWN.net]

OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 17, 2015 8:16 UTC (Thu) by fb (guest, #53265)
In reply to: OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released by marcH
Parent article: OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

> While OpenWrt is awesome, I also doubt it will last long once it becomes easy to find a embedded system under $100 with Wifi and the ability to run a standard Linux distribution. There's a price point under which "twice cheaper" stops mattering.

Sure. Do you also expect your "generic embedded system with Wifi" to have:

1. 4 or 5 gigabit ethernet ports?
(don't know about you but I have plenty of use for them)

2. WiFi radio capabilities that match those of a dedicated router?
(I need multiple routers to have full coverage in my whole house)

3. ?make ice cream?
(I love ice cream too!)

Do you also expect Debian/Fedora/Ubuntu/etc to become as easy to use, configure and optimize as a router as OpenWrt? Seriously?
The most expensive thing in my home network setup was the time I spent setting it up, not the hardware.

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OpenWrt "Chaos Calmer" 15.05 released

Posted Sep 17, 2015 16:25 UTC (Thu) by marcH (subscriber, #57642) [Link]

> 4 or 5 gigabit ethernet ports?

Would be happy to use a dedicated hardware switch if I needed too. It's now cheap and small, I mean small compared to the cables themselves anyway.

> WiFi radio capabilities that match those of a dedicated router?

Good question! I assumed many interfaces are on par with dedicated routers since... "dedicated routers" tend to use the same drivers anyway? Am I wrong?
https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers

> Do you also expect Debian/Fedora/Ubuntu/etc to become as easy to use, configure and optimize as a router as OpenWrt? Seriously?

Yes, and no. I expect people who currently spend their precious time working hard and giving us OpenWrt for free to eventually redirect their effort to "DebianWrt" = yet another Debian derivative pre-configured and optimized for this job. The idea is the same: more software re-use, less maintenance, more security updates, and less... "cute embedded nonsense [build] hacks" ;-)