◤ Built on open source ◥
CicadaTAK stands on the shoulders of open-source software. Credits, licenses, and how to obtain the source for the GPL-licensed components we distribute.
A CicadaTAK node runs OpenMANET — an OpenWrt-based firmware — with the Linux kernel and BATMAN Advanced mesh routing underneath. The optional long-range LoRa bridge runs Meshtastic firmware, which we ship with a small UX patch. All of these are free software licensed under the GNU General Public License, and we are grateful to the projects and contributors behind them.
The downloadable node image we publish includes these GPL-licensed components, so this page provides the required credits and a written offer for the corresponding source.
The mesh firmware our nodes are built on — OpenWrt configured for 802.11ah HaLow + BATMAN Advanced ad-hoc routing. CicadaTAK packages and configures OpenMANET; the underlying firmware is OpenMANET's and its upstreams' work.
The embedded Linux distribution OpenMANET is based on, including the build system and the userspace that runs the radio, networking, and services on every node.
The Linux kernel and the BATMAN Advanced (batman-adv) layer-2 mesh routing module that forms the self-healing network between nodes.
The firmware on the optional Heltec/LoRa board that bridges the HaLow mesh to long-range Meshtastic radios. We ship a build with a small CicadaTAK UX patch (rotary-encoder UI, message history, canned messages). Because this is a modified GPLv3 binary that we distribute, the corresponding patched source is available on request — see the offer below.
For the GPL-licensed software included in any CicadaTAK node image we distribute, you are entitled to the complete corresponding source code under the terms of the applicable GNU GPL.
Unmodified components (OpenWrt, the Linux kernel, batman-adv, and the rest of the OpenMANET base) are available from the upstream sources linked above. For our modified Meshtastic firmware, or for a copy of the exact source corresponding to any image we publish, email support@cicadatak.com and we will provide it (a download link or physical media) for at least three years from the date you obtained the image.
The CicadaTAK gateway is also our own work, released under GPL-3.0 — its complete Python source ships inside every node image at /opt/cicadatak/, so the corresponding source travels with the binary. The CicadaTAK mobile app is proprietary, is a separate program (it talks to the gateway over the network), and contains no GPL-licensed code.
The CicadaTAK mobile app is original software. It is built with React Native and Expo and uses a number of open-source libraries under permissive licenses (MIT, Apache 2.0, BSD). It does not include any GPL-licensed code.