[NoCat] Linksys and the GPL

[Rob Flickenger]

In light of our Hack night findings up here in beautiful (and hot!) 
Seattle, I just posted this:

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/3580

Also check the Wiki.  As a couple of people have pointed out, it's easy 
to run arbitrary code on the WRT54G without modification:

http://seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/LinksysWrt54g#line174

I also posted the message below to support@linksys.com, although I'm 
not holding my breath for a response.

Enjoy,

--Rob

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Hello--

I noticed the GPL source code for your new Linux based access points, 
available at http://www.linksys.com/support/gpl.asp.  I also notice 
that the contents of these archives contain the original, unaltered 
source code to the packages you used to build your firmware.

Where can I download the changes you made to make them work with your 
hardware?  I believe that I am entitled to a copy of your modifications 
under the terms of the software released under the GPL.

Incidentally, are you using a modified GCC compiler to build these 
sources?  Many of the binaries contained in your firmware updates 
contain this GCC signature:

GCC: (GNU) 3.0 20010422 (prerelease) with bcm4710a0 modifications

I expect that Broadcom issued you a modified GCC to make this code run 
on your access points.  Where can I get a copy of the source code to 
the changes that were made to GCC?

Regards,

--Rob Flickenger
rob@oreillynet.com