- Is modifying the original Linksys source legal?
- IF it was legal, is it possible to add fq_codel?
What kind of answer are you expecting?
Aside from:
- read its licensing terms
- ask a copyright lawyer in your jurisdiction
The default answer to both would be "no", but to really answer this, someone would have to take the effort of looking into it in detail[0] - something I doubt {,m}any will a) bother about or b) have the legal expertise to provide an authoritative[1] answer.
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[0] a detailed survey by professionals will easily take 6 weeks and more, unless there's a very clear licensing term that prohibits it on top (there often is, but the question still remains to what extent this would be legally binding --> mere aggregation or combined works).
[1] under which jurisdiction? What might be legal in the EU isn't necessarily in the US or vice versa, before even looking into other jurisdictions.
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- Are you talking about the code that was ported from Linksys years ago...that led to OpenWrt?
- Or are you referring to code in a device being sold today?
The reasoning behind this is that Linksys has stopped supporting the 3200ACM from what I understand. The stock firmware is OK with the exception of a decent QOS. Aside from running a separate router & ap at this time, I was contemplating some other options.
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Read the EULA for the router.
It specifically says that you don't have the right to alter, modify, backwards engineer blah blah, EXCEPT for any part of the product covered by Open Source Licensing. "This agreement does not limit or supersede any rights provided under these licenses"
So you can modify any of the open source components as you wish, but for example the code behind their GUI, or trying to reverse engineer mwlwifi would be a no no.
My interpretation (Not a lawyer), loading fq_codel using your own scripts or the built in functionality of openwrt, no problem. Modifying their GUI to do it for you, problem.
I think another safe way to think about it, if you can see the source code in the GPL dump, it's probably fair game.
This link https://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=208662#h12 says we can modifiy the source, but I'm also not lawyer 
I do know that the "language" of the law is not common to interpretation.
See if you can produce a viable firmware from that tarball. Often it's no more than a code dump with the bare FLOSS essentials and any binary blobs stripped. I have yet to meet the first person who tried compiling it (if the manufacturer provides instructions for it altogether) and got a firmware image with functionality identical to the manufacturer's own downloads.
Those bare essentials already covered by FOSS licences, yes Linksys will generously allow you to modify those. They're legally obliged to.
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My apologies for producing a seismic wave upon tender emotions. We don't know if we don't ask.
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I wasn't offended. I am really curious if you'll get it to work, and you're right to raise those questions. But Linksys pulled a number on the FOSS community with their 'open source' mumbo jumbo, and from the looks of that download page they haven't learned one bit.
They talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk.
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You can download the Open Source code included in that router at GPL Code Center. But you will only obtain the Open Source code used in the original firmware, not the whole sources for the original firmware.
So, you will not be able to modify the sources and then build a modified version of the original firmware; you would have to modify the compiled binaries...
I have to say the coolest feature of Linksys stock firmware is the network map. It's pretty and works well 