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93 lines
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========
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M0n0wall
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========
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.. image:: ./images/index.png
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----------
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Background
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----------
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*Manuel Kasper*
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::
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Ever since I started playing with packet filters on embedded PCs, I wanted to
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have a nice web-based GUI to control all aspects of my firewall without having
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to type a single shell command.
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There are numerous efforts to create nice firewall packages with web
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interfaces on the Internet (most of them Linux based), but none met all my
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requirements (free, fast, simple, clean and with all the features I need).
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So, I eventually started writing my own web GUI. But soon I figured out that
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I didn't want to create another incarnation of webmin – I wanted to create a
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complete, new embedded firewall software package.
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It all evolved to the point where one could plug in the box, set the LAN IP
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address via the serial console, log into the web interface and set it up.
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Then I decided that I didn't like the usual bootup system configuration with
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shell scripts (I already had to write a C program to generate the filter rules
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since that's almost impossible in a shell script), and since my web interface
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was based on PHP, it didn't take me long to figure out that I might use PHP
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for the system configuration as well.
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That way, the configuration data would no longer have to be stored in text
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files that can be parsed in a shell script – it could now be stored in an XML
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file. So I completely rewrote the whole system again, not changing much in the
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look-and-feel, but quite a lot "under the hood".
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---------------------------
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End of the m0n0wall project
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---------------------------
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The active development of m0n0wall ended in 2015.
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Manuel Kasper, wrote the following on 15 February 2015:
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::
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Dear m0n0wall enthusiasts,
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on this day 12 years ago, I have released the first version of m0n0wall to
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the public. In theory, one could still run that version - pb1 it was called -
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on a suitably old PC and use it to control the Internet access of a small LAN
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(not that it would be recommended security-wise). However, the world keeps
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turning, and while m0n0wall has made an effort to keep up, there are now better
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solutions available and under active development.
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Therefore, today I announce that the m0n0wall project has officially ended.
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No development will be done anymore, and there will be no further releases.
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The forums and the mailing list will be frozen at the end of this month.
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All the contents of the website, repository, downloads, mailing list and forum
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will be archived in a permanent location on the web so that they remain
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accessible indefinitely to anyone who might be interested in them.
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m0n0wall has served as the seed for several other well known open source
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projects, like pfSense, FreeNAS and AskoziaPBX.
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The newest offspring, OPNsense (https://opnsense.org), aims to continue the open source spirit of
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m0n0wall while updating the technology to be ready for the future. In my view,
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it is the perfect way to bring the m0n0wall idea into 2015, and I encourage all
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current m0n0wall users to check out OPNsense and contribute if they can.
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Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been
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involved in the m0n0wall project and helped in some way or another -
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by contributing code, documentation, answering questions on the mailing
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list or the forum, donating or just spreading the word. It has been a great
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journey for me, and I'm convinced that even now that it has come to an end,
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the m0n0wall spirit will live on in the various projects it has spawned.
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-----------------------
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Relations with OPNsense
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-----------------------
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Deciso B.V. the founder of OPNsense has taken over the m0n0wall websites from
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Manuel Kasper and continues to offer all the sources, website & forum content
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both as a historical reference as well as to preserve knowledge gained.
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The OPNsense core team want to thank Manuel for all this effort as for him
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OPNsense would not have been possible.
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