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Revision as of 17:14, 1 June 2006 by Antonrojo (talk | contribs) (Revert to revision 56325688 using popups)(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.
People
James Ewing of California is the founder of Sveasoft and its sole developer. He currently lives in Sweden. Several other developers collaborated from time to time including Wolf, Lonewolf, Nikki, Traveller, and others. Over time, all other developers left Sveasoft, leaving James Ewing to be the only one remaining. Wolf was the last one to go away in November 2005 .
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. Modifications to power and frequency may interfere with other electronics, and are illegal in some jurisdictions. The maximum power permitted by the U.S. FCC for WiFi with a 5 dBi or less antenna is 1000 mW , the maximum power permitted by the European ETSI is 100 mW, both EIRP, i.e. including antenna gain. Using channels 12, 13 or 14 in the U.S. is illegal. In nearly all non-U.S. locations channels 1-13 are permitted. Channels 1-14 are legal in Japan and unregulated areas.
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. Other versions of Talisman specializing in VoIP routing, VPN services, and automatic mesh routing are currently under development.
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.
Controversies
Distribution
One former subscriber published emails received in mid-2004 allegedly from Sveasoft's James Ewing. The emails threaten the person for distributing copies of the firmware.
Another subscriber has also presented email sent by Ewing to the subscriber's web hosting provider, alleging DMCA violations for providing copies of the firmware. The web host, WebDogPro, responded that the redistribution was supported by the GPL license of the firmware, an argument which Ewing disputes.
Sveasoft sent a DMCA takedown letter to Google in an effort to prevent a Russian download site offering cracked versions of their non-released firmware as FreeWRT from appearing in search results. Sveasoft cancelled the subscriptions of multiple customers after they publicly posted links to similar sites.
LinksysInfo.org, once the main distributor of Sveasoft's firmware, has recently terminated ties with Sveasoft. As per Wolf's statement :
Linksysinfo is no longer associated with Sveasoft in any way. They have continued to take cheap shots at Sveasoft publicly, and I have reached the end of my tolerance for them. I was a moderator on their forum, and now my account has been deleted for posting that they no longer have the right to use our trademarks. (Which they promptly deleted)
WRT54G.com is the only authorized public firmware support site for Sveasoft. Linksysinfo was asked twice to remove the Sveasoft forum, but they refuse and have banned James and now myself from their forum. They are now guilty of trademark violation since they have been asked twice to remove our trademarks from their site.
Sveasoft has since migrated to WRT54G.NET.
Personnel
As of November 15, 2005, Wolf, a former Sveasoft employee, had been removed from the Sveasoft development team and was banned from Sveasoft's web site :
Today, there was a "falling out" between myself and James that has been building for the last several weeks.
James and I recently went in on a new hardware deveopment venture to make extra money for Sveasoft. About 3 weeks ago James reduced communication to one-liner answers in PMs. Today we had a short one-liner exchange from this morning until a few hours ago, consisting of me asking him to call, and him simply replying with single-line questions such as (paraphrased) "What about?". I answered this question several times, but kept having it repeated to me in one form or another. I finally decided that it was time to end the partnership, which I received a swift ban from sveasoft.com for.
After being questioned about the situation from BrainSlayer, a developer of a similar project, DD-WRT, Wolf lashed out by referring to him as "BrainFailure", erasing his posts, and locking the thread. A similar discussion took place on DD-WRT's official forum.
GPL disputes
Since the Alchemy firmware was released, former users and subscribers alike have questioned the legality of Sveasoft's distribution model . While not necessarily charging for the software, they have charged a yearly fee for access to both the software and support. If a subscriber redistributes the firmware, their subscription is terminated and they lose access to future firmware. Since no free download sites existed at the time, many believed this was a violation of the GPL. Sveasoft's arguments to the contrary were justified by Alan Cox who supported Sveasoft's model of "if you distribute the source then I won't supply you updates" on the Linux Kernel Mailing List . Sveasoft has also posted a message on their forums with a message from Peter Brown, the Free Software Foundation's compliance officer, who says: "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." However, their policy of cutting off support for people who redistribute GPLed Sveasoft firmware remains controversial.
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.
The Talisman controversy
Talisman (up through version 1.0.4), did not include source code (whether one is a subscriber or not). However, this was corrected starting with the Talisman 1.0.5 release and Sveasoft claims all future releases will follow suit. It also has very strict distribution guidelines for the firmware images. Cracked versions of Talisman, called Freeman, have been distributed in response to the Talisman debate. Currently, the 1.0.5 release is the only Talisman source code release, though many newer binaries have been posted.
Payment disputes
Some consider that Sveasoft has a somewhat draconian approach to complaints. Signing up for Sveasoft engages you to a recurring annual payment if you don't cancel the subscription. Merely pointing this out on the Sveasoft forum has led to banning of users, citing the "flamebait" clause in their FAQ (which Sveasoft uses as a terms and conditions of services document).
Other third-party firmware
Several other groups are actively developing third-party firmware for the LinkSys router, with features very similar to the Sveasoft firmware. Most of these groups have enhanced the original LinkSys GPL firmware, as Sveasoft has done.
For a list of related software projects, see WRT54G Third-Party Firmware Projects.
External links
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.
Controversy
- Linksysinfo.org - former official redistributor of Sveasoft firmware.
- Journal of TheIndividual - an anonymous blog with critcisms of Sveasoft including emails that James Ewing claims are faked, hosted on Slashdot.
- Sveasoft.de - further links for Alchemy and alternatives.
- Open and Shut - Robert X. Cringely comments on the Sveasoft versus GPL debate.
- SveasoftSucks.com - One person's opinion.