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Router hackers reach for the fork: LEDE splits from OpenWRT

Disgruntled core devs take bat and ball to new LEDE Project

A split seems to have emerged in the Linux-router-OS community, with a breakaway group splitting from OpenWRT.

OpenWRT is the chief open router firmware implementation, but it has run into headwinds of late. For example, downtime for the group earlier this year was traced back to the small organisation running a single, small, server without redundancy.

The LEDE Project – Linux Embedded Development Environment – describes itself as a breakaway project that wants to overcome what it sees as faults in OpenWRT.

Most particularly, the project states, the number of core developers is falling and the original project lacks a process for bringing new developers involved. They also claim there's a lack of transparency in OpenWRT.

LEDE says its goals are to build a stable, functional embedded Linux disto; to follow regular and predictable release cycles; and to create a transparent decision-making process.

It claims “a significant share” of the most active OpenWRT developers.

Individuals in the process include Jo-Philipp Wich, John Crispin, Daniel Golle, Felix Fietkau, Hauke Mehrtens, Matthias Schiffer and Steven Barth.

The decision to create what seems to be a fork of the project has not been uniformly well-received. Some posters to the OpenWRT developer mailing list have complained that it seems to be nothing more than an unnecessary rebranding.

Others complain that setting up the new project without prior discussion on OpenWRT lists doesn't align with the transparency LEDE's founders espouse.

The OpenWRT Project has responded on the list, "more-in-sorrow-than-anger", as they say.

It acknowledges “some of the issues outlined”, but says it had hoped to discuss and fix the issues “before this more radical outcome”.

“We do acknowledge there has been internal disagreements, on several occasions about some directions of the project, about the release model, the lack of testing, the centralized infrastructure, however, there have been actual work going on under the hoods to solve things one step at a time, starting with a more decentralised infrastructure, which was discussed with the LEDE developers as well”, the post continues. ®

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