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RevK's blog has a lot of interesting posts on it. https://www.revk.uk/ https://www.revk.uk/ He also runs an excellent ISP in the UK called AAISP which I can h

RevK's blog has a lot of interesting posts on it. https://www.revk.uk/ https://www.revk.uk/ He also runs an excellent ISP in the UK called AAISP which I can highly recommend (https://www.aa.net.uk https://www.aa.net.uk) AAISP build their own core & customer networking devices/routers from scratch (not Linux based) in the UK. They are fascinating to use - a completely different evolutionary tree to any other networking kit I've used. Some unique features. https://www.firebrick.co.uk/fb9000/ https://www.firebrick.co.uk/fb9000/

MaKey 1y ago
> AAISP build their own core & customer networking devices/routers from scratch (not Linux based) in the UK. Which kernel are they using?
- EvanAnderson 1y ago
  Their site says: - Every line of code in the firmware, including building an operating system from the ground up with device drivers and IP stack. - The FireBrick's hardware platform is not used in any other devices and the FireBrick's codebase / firmware is not used in any other hardware. Given the feature set I'm a little dubious that it's all in-house. There are a ton of man-years of code in there. It would be interesting to know the history of the software.
  - masfuerte 1y ago
    This blog post has a few hints [1]. Apparently they had to rewrite a load of code when they moved to a multicore processor, so it definitely seems to be in-house software. [1]: https://www.firebrick.co.uk/about/news/version-20/ https://www.firebrick.co.uk/about/news/version-20/
    - EvanAnderson 1y ago
      Thanks for that link. It's absolutely wild to think about a suite of software this sophisticated that exists outside the realm of Unix, Windows, or any of the long-term players in the embedded networking device market. I know there are boutique embedded IP stacks out there but it still boggles my mind that a small company like this has had sufficient revenue to keep up with the "churn" in the networking space for 20+ years w/o leaning on free/open-source software.
      - EvanAnderson 1y ago
        Piling-on to my own comment: Searching the site https://www.revk.uk https://www.revk.uk for the keyword "firebrick" returns a ton of results detailing the development. It looks like it's exactly what it says on the tin-- a proprietary operating system with its own implementations of a ton of protocols. I wish I had a reason to interview RevK about the Firebrick code. I think it would be an immensely interesting topic.

MaKey 1y ago

> AAISP build their own core & customer networking devices/routers from scratch (not Linux based) in the UK. Which kernel are they using?

EvanAnderson 1y ago
Their site says: - Every line of code in the firmware, including building an operating system from the ground up with device drivers and IP stack. - The FireBrick's hardware platform is not used in any other devices and the FireBrick's codebase / firmware is not used in any other hardware. Given the feature set I'm a little dubious that it's all in-house. There are a ton of man-years of code in there. It would be interesting to know the history of the software.
- masfuerte 1y ago
  This blog post has a few hints [1]. Apparently they had to rewrite a load of code when they moved to a multicore processor, so it definitely seems to be in-house software. [1]: https://www.firebrick.co.uk/about/news/version-20/ https://www.firebrick.co.uk/about/news/version-20/
  - EvanAnderson 1y ago
    Thanks for that link. It's absolutely wild to think about a suite of software this sophisticated that exists outside the realm of Unix, Windows, or any of the long-term players in the embedded networking device market. I know there are boutique embedded IP stacks out there but it still boggles my mind that a small company like this has had sufficient revenue to keep up with the "churn" in the networking space for 20+ years w/o leaning on free/open-source software.
    - EvanAnderson 1y ago
      Piling-on to my own comment: Searching the site https://www.revk.uk https://www.revk.uk for the keyword "firebrick" returns a ton of results detailing the development. It looks like it's exactly what it says on the tin-- a proprietary operating system with its own implementations of a ton of protocols. I wish I had a reason to interview RevK about the Firebrick code. I think it would be an immensely interesting topic.