[HECnet] PyDECnet and IPv6

[David Moylan]

> From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-
> hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of John H. Reinhardt
> Sent: Wednesday, 2 December 2020 6:18 AM
> To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE
> Subject: Re: [HECnet] PyDECnet and IPv6
> 
> I had an Edgerouter Lite for my internet but upgraded to an Edgerouter 4 last
> year when I set up the VPN to the MacMini Colo in Las Vegas.
> 
> Next I have to see if I can put Paul's PyDECnet on it for HECnet routing.

That sounds like an awesome challenge, however I don't know if you'll meet the base requirements.

The edgerouter 1.x firmware ships with Python 2.7.3 and the 2.x firmware ships with Python 2.7.13.
Memory wise you have 1GB with around 600MB free on the ER4 and 500MB with around 200MB free on the ERL.

And yes - you can add in linux packages to get Python 3 running on the Edgerouter, but I would recommend that you don't.

The issue comes down to firmware upgrades. When you install a new firmware image, you risk breaking the third party addons.

I implemented an Edgerouter at home to replace my Linux box which acted as a firewall for years. The fact that the router is now disjointed from any of my servers is a good thing, because I can upgrade/change/replace firmware and config on my router without concern that I'll break any additional network functionality. I don't want a router update (which is currently a seamless and clean experience) to become more of a "server" update.

But please don't let me convince you that it can't be done, because I feel that it most certainly could be done.

The 1.10.11 (which is what I run on most of my devices) has been stable and unpatched since March 2020. It's also pretty much guaranteed to be the last 1.x release 
The 2.x series is under regular release (2.0.9 came out 19-NOV-2020).

Cheers, Wiz!!