Rope is a programming language that allows developers to write extensions to the Iptables/Netfilter components of Linux using a simple scripting language based on Reverse Polish notation.
Rusty Russell started the netfilter/iptables project in 1998; he had also authored the project's predecessor, ipchains.
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In August 2003 Harald Welte was made chairman of the coreteam, and in April 2004, following a crack-down by the project on those distributing the project's software embedded in routers without complying with the GPL, Welte was granted a historic injunction by a German court against Sitecom Germany, who refused to follow the GPL's terms (see GPL-related disputes).
NETLINK NFLOG provides an interface used to communicate between used Netfilter and iptables.
Components of the Linux kernel, such as Netfilter or the Linux network scheduler, in conjunction with the available free and open-source routing daemons BIRD, B.A.T.M.A.N., Quagga and XORP fulfill the task very well.
The project was first publicly presented on Netfilter Workshop in September 2008 in Paris.