OpenWrt is a free and widely used by network enthusiasts open-source Linux-based operating system primarily used for embedded devices, most notably residential gateways and routers.
What’s its significant advantage? Besides the complete control over your network, which it puts in your hands, OpenWrt features a built-in package management system, allowing users to install (or uninstall) additional software components.
This means you can extend your router’s functionality far beyond what typical off-the-shelf firmware offers.
And now, the world of open-source networking is buzzing again, as the latest version of OpenWrt, 23.05, was just released. So, let’s see what new it brings us.
What’s New in OpenWrt 23.05
OpenWrt supports many devices, from high-end routers to modest older models, making it versatile and accessible.
As with every previous release, the new OpenWrt 23.05 adds new to its list of supported devices. Only, this time, it is over 200 of them, bringing the total inventory to an impressive numbering of 1790+. You can find the complete list of supported devices here.
On top of that, the new release also introduces an exciting capability that has the tech community on its toes: the ability to include programs written in Rust into the OpenWrt package infrastructure.
Hailed by many as the programming language of the future, known for its memory safety guarantees and concurrency features, Rust is a valuable addition to OpenWrt’s toolbox and will only help expand its distribution even further.
Moreover, with this release, OpenWrt has transitioned its default cryptographic library from wolfSSL to MbedTLS, which brings TLS 1.3 support and has a relatively small code footprint, making it the perfect candidate for embedded systems.
Of course, OpenWrt 23.05 has also seen updates to a number of its core components with the most important being:
- Linux kernel 5.15.134
- Binutils 2.40
- BusyBox 1.36.1
- musl libc 1.2.4, glibc 2.37, and GCC 12.3.0
- dnsmasq 2.89
- Dropbear 2022.82
You can refer to the release announcement for detailed information about all changes in OpenWrt 23.05. The full changelog is here.
Finally, if you currently use the previous v22.03 on your router, upgrading to v23.05 is easy – all you need is the Sysupgrade image. Everyone else must use a Factory image to perform the initial flash of their device. All of them can be freely downloaded here.
