Unslung
Encyclopedia
Unslung is an open source
firmware for the Linksys
NSLU2
. It is based on the stock Linksys firmware. Due to the device running Linux
, and therefore licensed under, and subject to the terms of the GNU General Public License
, Linksys released the source code
.
Unslung takes the Linksys firmware and expands upon it. It is still subject to some of the restrictions that the Linksys firmware has, but also removes some of them. Based on the old Linux 2.4
kernel
, support for some newer devices may not exist. The web interface of the default Linksys firmware is kept, fully functioning, except for the upgrade interface.
Through ipkg
, users are able to install over 1000 Optware
packages to the device. These have been specially compiled for the NSLU2.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
firmware for the Linksys
Linksys
Linksys by Cisco, commonly known as Linksys, is a brand of home and small office networking products now produced by Cisco Systems, though once a separate company founded in 1995 before being acquired by Cisco in 2003...
NSLU2
NSLU2
The NSLU2 is a Network-attached storage device made by Linksys introduced in 2004 and discontinued in 2008. It makes USB Flash memory and hard disks accessible over a network using the SMB protocol...
. It is based on the stock Linksys firmware. Due to the device running Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, and therefore licensed under, and subject to the terms of the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
, Linksys released the source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
.
Unslung takes the Linksys firmware and expands upon it. It is still subject to some of the restrictions that the Linksys firmware has, but also removes some of them. Based on the old Linux 2.4
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
, support for some newer devices may not exist. The web interface of the default Linksys firmware is kept, fully functioning, except for the upgrade interface.
Through ipkg
Ipkg
ipkg, or the Itsy Package Management System, is a lightweight package management system designed for embedded devices that resembled Debian's dpkg. It was used in the Unslung operating system for the Linksys NSLU2 , in OpenWrt, Openmoko, webOS, Gumstix, the iPAQ, QNAP NASes, Synology NASes and...
, users are able to install over 1000 Optware
Optware
Originally created for the Linksys NSLU2 Unslung firmware, Optware is an advanced package manager used for distribution of additional software packages on various operating systems.-What is Optware?:...
packages to the device. These have been specially compiled for the NSLU2.