Comments on: Redefining “user unfriendliness”: Linux is ported to the iPhone… for some reason

By: ASTERIXlix

ASTERIXlix — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:23:19 +0000

ERIC says: “…about linux on everything but the toaster…” oh I thought that had been done, lucky for me my toaster actually has a chip in it (serious it’s Tefal Avanti Elite, great toaster). Time for me to go look up the chip reference manuals, create a Sourcforge project, hit IRC and start porting

By: JoshFerencz

JoshFerencz — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:58:03 +0000

your article makes you look like a jealous nerd who truly feels like he’s a major shareholder just because you own the product. no offense.

The demo video is only showing the progress, it is by no means being released without accelerometer or touch screen support, no one has said it is.

Its an open-source movement, that makes linux appeal to people.

By: V.i.k.t.o.r

V.i.k.t.o.r — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:26:34 +0000

Well,

I think the reason for the guys putting/trying Linux out on the iPhone 3g was just like in the case of iPod Touch which still not being able running Linux so far (maybe this achievement could bring some goals on that platform as well) to try to cover all the missing / wished functions not giving by apple firmware…

To make it clear, I would be happy to run linux on my iPod Touch to be able to listen FLAC,Wawpack, and other formats I have music in on my iPod but it is not allowed by Apple&iTunes….or synchronize my player other then iTunes…

Dont make me wrong, I love Apple Stuffs, and with all the respect, if thats to only way to cover the lack of support on some cases, then I am open to use it later on when its gonna be user friendly enough…

I love to listen music on the iPod but I would like to do it as I want on my own way & with my favourite formats, etc etc

Thanks,

By: odin

odin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:55:04 +0000

Wait so I might have a uPhone (ubuntu) or maybe this might be one step closer to my all time wanted mod, the xpPhone!!!

By: krko

krko — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:22:34 +0000

The reason you have this blog in first place is because you’re running it on a Linux server…

The reason you’re using the excellent wordpress publishing platform for this blog is much due to Linux and open source community…

The reason there’s active and strong open source community worldwide is also much due to Linux and Linux related stuff…

The reason mysql, php and other “stuff” powering the web exist is tightly connected to the Linux community…

The reason you have Firefox is due to the open source community which, well has much to do with Linux in first place…

I’m sure there were many that laughed at all of these some time ago and I’m sure you’re not one of them, so your sarcasm is appreciated, not this time.

By: ERIC

ERIC — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:37:21 +0000

Ha! I don’t think I’ve ever read this many comments on a post on this site before. I come here for humor first, tech-related second. If you don’t, then get lost. Doc is totally right. I’ve been reading about linux on everything but the toaster in the last few years, but who cares – other than those doing it? Linux running on the iPhone is crap and worthless at this point. That’s the simple fact.

By: Xeno

Xeno — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:35:03 +0000

ok point for everyone. As a Linux user, I will say I probably won’t use this but that this is neat in case I do need a kernel at my fingertips. Still this kills the usefulness of the iPhone.

As for saying it takes an hour to boot Linux on a ‘toothbrush’, I seriously doubt that when Linux runs on a friggin chip the size of your thumbnail and can run on the energy of a potato (no shit, see the spud server project). Considering it’s used to ‘speed boot’ OSs now, you need to get you facts straight.

So point for both teams, this isn’t a very useful of a hack but the Linux bashing is completely uninformed and ignorant. So let’s play fair guys as we’re all UNIX based after all.

By: Arthur

Arthur — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:55:23 +0000

While I can appreciate the talent and time required to do this, I wonder about the overall value. Talent and effort are usually applied to fix something that is broken

How was or is the iPhone platform broken? Wouldn’t a Linux installation on a Windows Mobile phone be a better application of all this talent?

I see the appeal of Linux vs. Windows, as Windows has had issues, and I wish the Linux desktop would gain more critical mass.

By: Imagine Engine

Imagine Engine — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:05:09 +0000

It’s a proof of concept which is cool for those that like to tinker with their gadgets. Though there’s an old saying I believe applies here and that is “just because you can doesn’t mean you should”. Over the my many years of computer experience I’ve used all variations of OS for both PC and Mac. I always felt Linux distros had potential but due to lacking sufficient interest from major corporations and several key developers it left me feeling it was missing something. I’m not knocking down Linux as I believe it suits some users and has it’s place in some areas such as for servers. It’s just that when compared to OS X it’s viewed as the poor man’s OS. Anyway, I would prefer Apple to be more flexible with allowing developers access to the mobile OS X API to benefit iPhone users who will have access to applications currently not available unless one jailbreaks. If I were to choose which OS to run as an alternative to OS X on the iPhone then it would be Google’s Android. Unfortunately Google has only released the SDK for developing apps, not the OS. As for the comments towards Doc I do believe the article is newsworthy for MacEnstein readers since it involves Apple’s iPhone. Thanks Doc for posting this news

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:50:59 +0000

Yes, a funny post and “Redefining â€œuser unfriendlinessâ€ is a very funny headline.

Bottom line is: who in his right mind cares *what* kernel it’s running?

As I understand it, the point about the iPhone – what makes it what it is – is not so much the kernel as the touch version of the Cocoa Frameworks. This is what allows such attractive apps and such fast app development. Most other phones have some crappy Java environment.

If there’s some lunatic out there who actually cares what *kernel* he’s running and thinks, for some reason, that it must be cooler to have a Linux kernel than a BSD/Mach kernel, even if he has to have a crap user-environment with it, then he’d do better to buy a Linux phone in the first place. But I suppose there are just people out there who like making things difficult for themselves, and maybe the guy already built a model of the Eiffel Tower with matchsticks and needed something else to do.