Android, Schmandroid: Linux on the iPhone
,----[ Quote ]
| Saurik selected the Debian Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) "which is used on
| numerous Linux installations and the one I consider to be the most stable,"
| ported that to the iPhone and "now I have it to the point where anybody can
| run an APT repository in the same way you would on a machine running Debian
| and install what you want," he said.
|
| Then, he wrote Cydia, a graphical front end that "lets you install and
| uninstall programs the same way as the app.tapp installer does," he said.
| Because the process of porting the tools to the iPhone was similar to
| building a Linux distribution -- "You have to coordinate the tools together,
| and decide what is and what's not a package," the workload is much too heavy
| for only one person, so Saurik launched a project called "Telesphoreo," an
| open source Unix distribution "to be launched on the modern smartphone, and
| the first is the iPhone," he said.
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http://www.technewsworld.com/story/mobile-tech/62209.html
The iPhone was going to run Linux, but Steve Jobs apparently objected
(idealogical reasons only, nothing actually wrong with Linux). Highlights in
the text below.
Related:
A Linux-powered iPhone
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| The most interesting part on Wired magazine's revelation was during iPhone’s
| software development. On a very tight deadline to finish the iPhone right on
| time, Apple software engineers looked carefully at Linux, since it had
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| already been rewritten for use on mobile phones. But, Linux on iPhone was
| denied by Steve Jobs for the reason that he do not want to utilize someone
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| else’s software. Just imagine the endless possibilities had Steve agreed. It
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| would have been a big break for Linux, and iPhone could have been a much more
| powerful and smarter mobile device. It would have been a jaw-dropping
| combination of beauty and brains.
|
| Since Linux powered iPhone is now far from reality, I have here some photos
| of make-believe iPhone running with a GNOME desktop and with a Firefox web
| browser.
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http://junauza.blogspot.com/2008/01/linux-powered-iphone.html
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