[kwlug-announce] Meeting Monday: Hacking the WRT54GL

[Paul Nijjar]

 	Kids these days. You do them a favour and give 'em an operating 
system licenced to allow derivative works, and they start installing it 
everywhere! Phones, video game consoles, wrist watches... the next thing 
you know we'll all be sshing into our clotheslines to run lint(1).

 	Back in the good old days we used to put Linux on 
*computers*, and we'd like it! At most we'd give an old machine some new 
life by using it as a Linux firewall or router. These days it's all 
backwards: whippersnappers buy perfectly good routers and turn them into 
Linux desktops! Cedric Puddy is one of those whippersnappers, and at this 
month's KWLUG meeting he'll be giving us a tour of how to install the 
OpenWRT distro on a Linksys WRT54GL router. Before your very eyes, he will 
flash BIOSes, manage packages with ipkg, show off some scripts he wrote to 
make flashing boxes easier, and discuss the differences between the 
OpenWRT distribution and the stock Linksys configuration. (He says that if 
any of you whippersnappers want to try this at home, he will have some 
WRT54GLs on hand that he can sell at cost.)

 	If there is time and interest Cedric will show off another toy: 
the Wi-Spy 2.4 GHz spectrum analyser that he uses for all kinds of 
wireless mischief. All of this fun will start at 7pm.

 	At 6pm we will have some newbie training time. Brent Clements will 
show us how to update packages using package management tools (on a 
variety of distros, I believe.)

 	As usual, we'll be holding our nerd meeting at The Working Centre:

The Working Centre
43 Queen Street South
(Between King and Charles Streets)

 	There be maps and booty on the website, and pirate-ship parking in 
the back lot (after 6pm for motorized ships, and always for dingies).

- Paul (Yarr! I be changing metaphors partway through the message! 
That'll learn them whippersnappers!)

--
Paul Nijjar - http://www.fairvotecanada.org/WaterlooRegion
Next electoral reform info night: Tuesday June 12, 7pm