Version 1.5.2 & 1.4.5
Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:50 am
The new experimental, 1.5.2, version fixes a major issue with installing packages via the opkg utility introduced in 1.5.1, adds several new options for DNS resolution, and enables automatic mounting of swap partitions on USB drives.
In previous releases, users could choose between setting custom DNS servers and using default ISP DNS servers. In 1.5.2, users can select an option from a drop-down whether they want to use their ISP's servers, OpenDNS name servers, Google's DNS servers, or a custom list of DNS servers. This should eliminate the need to enter the IPs of OpenDNS servers by hand for those interested in using filtering provided by OpenDNS, and provides a simple, preconfigured alternative to default ISP DNS servers (Google).
The other new DNS option, which is enabled by default (and does not come with any sort of performance penalty and can easily be disabled) is the ability to resolve domain names in several Alternate DNS Roots. In particular NameCoin (.bit) and OpenNIC domains can now be resolved. DNS resolution is one very common target of repressive governments trying to censor the Internet. The primary advantage of domains in an alternate root (in particular NameCoin due to its distributed nature) is that they cannot be easily seized like those in the official ICANN DNS roots. However, the downside is that most people cannot access such a domain, because special software and/or configuration is required. Routers running Gargoyle 1.5.2+ now provide the needed configuration out of the box to all hosts in the subnet behind the router.
New in 1.5.2:
In previous releases, users could choose between setting custom DNS servers and using default ISP DNS servers. In 1.5.2, users can select an option from a drop-down whether they want to use their ISP's servers, OpenDNS name servers, Google's DNS servers, or a custom list of DNS servers. This should eliminate the need to enter the IPs of OpenDNS servers by hand for those interested in using filtering provided by OpenDNS, and provides a simple, preconfigured alternative to default ISP DNS servers (Google).
The other new DNS option, which is enabled by default (and does not come with any sort of performance penalty and can easily be disabled) is the ability to resolve domain names in several Alternate DNS Roots. In particular NameCoin (.bit) and OpenNIC domains can now be resolved. DNS resolution is one very common target of repressive governments trying to censor the Internet. The primary advantage of domains in an alternate root (in particular NameCoin due to its distributed nature) is that they cannot be easily seized like those in the official ICANN DNS roots. However, the downside is that most people cannot access such a domain, because special software and/or configuration is required. Routers running Gargoyle 1.5.2+ now provide the needed configuration out of the box to all hosts in the subnet behind the router.
New in 1.5.2:
- Fixes bug causing router crash when installing packages via opkg
- Allows selection of several DNS server options, including OpenDNS and Google DNS servers from a dropdown without the need to enter IPs manually
- Enables resolution of NameCoin and OpenNIC alternate root domains by default
- Automatically mounts swap partitions on attached USB drives
- Tor is disabled on routers with less than 64MB of memory (including swap space)
- Fixes error in updating namecheap.com domains via dynamic DNS
- Some improvements in looking up host IP for dynamic DNS -- rotating pool of servers for lookups is now used
- Bumps OpenWrt Backfire version to 10.03.1 final
- Time initialized to be Jan 1st, 2001 instead of 1970 before NTP started, so timezone shift never puts it before unix epoch
- QoS accounting improved for PPPoE connections which will improve overall QoS performance on these systems.
- Fixes error in updating namecheap.com domains via dynamic DNS
- Some improvements in looking up host IP for dynamic DNS -- rotating pool of servers for lookups is now used
- Bumps OpenWrt Backfire version to 10.03.1 final
- Time initialized to be Jan 1st, 2001 instead of 1970 before NTP started, so timezone shift never puts it before unix epoch
- QoS accounting improved for PPPoE connections which will improve overall QoS performance on these systems.
