Replace Cisco IOS/CBOS with freebsd - possible?

[Bruce M. Simpson]

Chris H wrote:
> ...
>>
>> I know Peter Grehan was looking at getting FreeBSD onto the Cisco 827 
>> a while back.
>
> That's good news. I'll have to see if I can get more info on that.
> I just purchased a "lot" of cisco *DSL/routers on ebay, in an effort
> to push this project forward (I can experiment on these with less 
> concern).

IMHO pfSense beats the pants off OpenWRT from a user/deployment point of 
view, and often that is ultimately what counts.

    Thing is, it's "only" for x86-based PCs. I had the foresight to 
purchase some relatively quiet 1U boxes, but they're still too noisy to 
have in a room where people sleep live or socialise -- they belong to 
the computer nook at the front of the apartment (I have a very odd 
C-shaped apartment).

    I believe something that could really make pfSense fly, would be a 
viable port to mass-market, low-power consumer hardware. Then again, old 
Ciscos "sort of" fit the bill.

    Repurposing old vendor hardware is just as subject to engineering 
process as anything else, in some cases, the varying Bill-of-Materials 
may make the economic cost too high to do things on a mass scale.

    If people would be reasonably expected to use such a system, they 
should not have to understand the mechanisms, in great detail, of how 
firmware is loaded onto a device. This is one of the main stumbling 
blocks behind mass uptake -- we can't just say "fire up this tool and 
click this 1 button" to extend/build new network infrastructure.

    Given the current economic and ecological situation, though, 
devising systems which allow people to do this might be something worth 
investigating, and funding to that effect may be available "out there".

cheers
BMS