After almost two years of development, the release of the BusyBox 1.37 package has been presented, featuring a set of standard UNIX utilities packaged into a single executable file and optimized for minimal resource consumption, with a package size of less than 1 MB. The first release of the new 1.37 branch is positioned as unstable, with full stabilization expected in version 1.37.1, which is anticipated in a few months. The project code is distributed under the GPLv2 license.
The modular nature of BusyBox allows for the creation of a single unified executable file containing an arbitrary set of utilities implemented in the package (each utility is available as a symbolic link to this file). The size, composition, and functionality of the utility collection can vary depending on the needs and capabilities of the embedded platform for which the build is being done. The package is self-sufficient, requiring only a few device files to be created in the /dev directory and the preparation of configuration files for a working system on top of the Linux kernel when statically built with uClibc. Compared to the previous release 1.36, the memory consumption of the typical BusyBox 1.37 build increased by 1535 bytes (from 1022792 to 1024327 bytes).
BusyBox is a key tool in combating GPL violations in firmware. The Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) and Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) have successfully influenced companies that do not provide access to the source code of GPL programs, both through litigation and by entering into out-of-court agreements, on behalf of the BusyBox developers. At the same time, the author of BusyBox strongly opposes such protection, believing that it undermines his business.
Notable changes in BusyBox 1.37 include:
- Added implementation of the getfattr utility to display extended file attributes.
- Optional support for the BOOTP protocol has been implemented in udhcpd.
- The hwclock utility has been enhanced with the ability to display and set RTC (Real-Time Clock) parameters. For example, to read: 'hwclock —param-get bsm', and to change: 'hwclock -p bsm=1'.
- The 'ip link' command has been updated to support configuring CAN devices using the netlink interface ('ip link set type can').
- The find utility has implemented the "-ok command" option to execute a command with a preliminary confirmation request from the user.
- A new set of fixes for the ash and hush command shells has been released, aimed at improving compatibility with other shells. Support for function name and alias input autocomplete using the Tab key has been added. A built-in implementation of the "false" command has been introduced in hush.
- The awk tool now has the "-E" flag for reading script text from a file.
- The od utility has added the "-B" option (an alias for "-t o2") for outputting in the form of 2-byte octal values.
- In the time utility, the "-f FMT" option now allows character escaping using the sequences "\escape" and "%%".
- The top utility has improved the display of large PID identifiers.
- The readlink command has added support for the separator "—" and improved compatibility with the POSIX standard regarding the use of the "-n" option.
- The start-stop-daemon command has added the options "-O/—output" (output redirection) and "-d DIR" (change default directory).
- The ntpd service has ensured client compatibility with server NTP time after the year 2038.
Source: opennet.ru
