Filed under: OS, Open Source, iPhone, Jailbreak/pwnage
iPhone hackers achieve a milestone: Linux boot
Call it the Touchable Penguin. OK, the touchscreen drivers aren't there yet, but the simple, scrolling shell output of a Linux kernel running on the iPhone represents a big achievement for the iPhone Dev Team and dev lead 'planetbeing.' The build is far from complete -- no wireless networking, no sound, no writeable support for the NAND flash memory -- but it's still very cool, and the effort involved was substantial (the team had to reverse-engineer the iPhone's boot loader so they could write their own).
Having a working Linux kernel on jailbroken iPhones and iPod touch handhelds might seem frivolous, but imagine the ability to run other touch phone OS platforms on top of an iPhone (like, perhaps, Android)... very tempting. You can see more of the rationale behind the Linux-on-iPhone project here, or you can skip to the second half of this post to see the video.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mike Stanton said 9:16PM on 11-28-2008
Maybe this is a chance for ROCKBox to get back in the game! Oh, I'm excited.
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Jash Sayani said 10:20AM on 11-30-2008
Rockbox...? They just design platforms for basic music playback and some games and plugins... That would result in a bad interface compared to the current iPhone OS and no AppStore, no jailbroken apps... Its like degrading the phone.
Windows Mobile or Android compatibility on iPhone would sound more sensible...
Mike Stanton said 6:27PM on 11-30-2008
Yes, but that was before, when the interface WAS simply music playback and games. Now, with so many ideas to piggyback onto, RockBox could make a comeback, in a BIG way.
And, using your own argument, Linux has no AppStore either. It's just as empty.
Baboonmaster said 11:13PM on 11-28-2008
haha ya, like some bug-ridden program system can outdo the thorough genius masterfully intertwined within OSX
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Simon Arch said 11:30PM on 11-28-2008
You know, I'm no fan of Linux, but I have to say it's not any more "bug ridden" than Mac OS X. Sure, the UIs are all one step away from unusable (for me) but the UI and the OS are two separate things in Linux. The OS itself is darn stable.
Baboonmaster said 11:39PM on 11-28-2008
well one does have to take into consideration that linux is so buggy only cuz its magically expected to b able to run optimally on numerous hardware systems. solidly-built Linux on the iPhone 3G....and only the iPhone 3G....is legitimate. trying to use the same stuff or relatively the same stuff for the iPhone or the iPod touch (any gen) is just insane cuz it'll yield those bugs that linux is so prone to.
and i may wanna retract my purpose behind saying "bug-ridden" cuz, to be honest, 2.2 has aleady croaked on me for no apparent reason. its been choppy and i've never had any trouble with earlier iPhone firmware. hopefully linux will work out and it'll serve as a great source for jobs to observe and get ideas to apply to the official iPhone firmware
Zack said 11:15PM on 11-28-2008
this is big.
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stevensnewest said 11:27PM on 11-28-2008
holy crap!
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darwiniandude@gmail.com said 11:55PM on 11-28-2008
Just downloaded iBuntu, works sweet. Used a female-female gender changer on the iPod cable and a USB keyboard for typing. Copy Paste!
=P
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Rigved said 2:19AM on 11-29-2008
whooaaaa cool
similar -
Top Free iPhone Applications - 3 Free Downloads an iPhone User Can’t Live Without -
http://www.techreviews4u.com/?p=1120
Reply
comctrl6 said 2:40AM on 11-29-2008
"... but imagine the ability to run other touch phone OS platforms on top of an iPhone (like, perhaps, Android)... very tempting."
There is nothing special about the iPhone hardware. Some might say that it even lacks certain features or the design might be poor in some areas (receded headphone jack design in the first generation iPhone, for example), which I agree with. The "magic" of iPhone is its software. Take any of the "iPhone killer" phones out there that have debuted since the iPhone was brought to market (Blackberry Storm, G1, various Samsung and LG fully touch-based phones). Most of those phones are probably superior from hardware stand point to the iPhone, but the distinguishing factor, the thing that separates the iPhone from them is software. Sure there are deficiencies, and some features simply don't exist in the iPhone OS as it stands (voice dialing, voice/video recording, ...), but the "killer app" is done well and done right.
To me there is nothing special about Linux OS. The kernel is great, stable and a dream to run server apps on. Nothing comes close to it. But the GUI, regardless of the toolkit used is basically "baby software." Of course the argument here is that there are tons of software packages and getting them all to play nice with each other is the difficult part, and so on, and I believe that's the point here. Specially made software, and tightly integrated software solutions wins the iPhone (and ultimately the iPod and the Mac OS) a huge point. As an added bonus, this specially made, tightly integrated software does not necessarily have to be closed source. TiVo is an example of that, in which the GUI is closed source, but I'm sure the changes made to the kernel of the Linux version they use should be available to everyone.
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Lee said 8:25AM on 11-29-2008
I have to disagree with the hardware statement. The only advantage other "iPhone Killers" have is a better camera. The iPhone is pretty powerful, the ARM processor the iphone uses is capable of 620MHz, but currently under-clocked. With linux you would be able to run it at full speed, maybe even over-clock it. Again the iPhone also has a lot of unique sensors that developers could take advantage over.
vandil said 8:18AM on 11-29-2008
Getting Linux running in the iPhone is interesting from a hobbyist point of view, but ultimately useless for the needs of the vast majority of iPhone users.
The same can be said for Linux on desktop/laptop computers versus Mac OS X. The ease of use just isn't there.
Outside of a few hobbyists, there's just no point to buying into an Apple product/experience, only to complicate the hardware with Linux.
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Andersen said 8:22AM on 11-29-2008
To everyone that claims Linux is buggy - Linux is open source software which AND all Apple's Operating Systems is linux based. The only difference is that Linux pays people to get the tiny little glitches out, or at least the ones that they notice. If you all want to moan about Linux being buggy then start helping with the Open Source Projects to build new versions without the bugs
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The Captain said 8:57AM on 11-29-2008
No, Apple operating systems are *not* Linux-based, they're BSD-based. There *is* a difference.
Not all Unix is Linux.
Luigi193 said 9:54AM on 11-29-2008
Linux ≠ BSD Unix
mrsteveman1 said 12:06PM on 11-29-2008
"To everyone that claims Linux is buggy - Linux is open source software which AND all Apple's Operating Systems is linux based."
No, OS X is based on NeXT, which predates Linux entirely.
"The only difference is that Linux pays people to get the tiny little glitches out, or at least the ones that they notice."
Huh?
"If you all want to moan about Linux being buggy then start helping with the Open Source Projects to build new versions without the bugs"
No i don't want to be part of a community effort that "might get there someday!", i want a working OS and i paid for one for that reason, thats how capitalism works.
Patriks7 said 11:30AM on 11-29-2008
Wow.. all you guys complaining how this is useless..
You need to be looking at it in the long run.. I bet this showed the developers many new things they could use for their jailbreaking, unlocking and I dont know what else..
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imat said 1:32PM on 11-29-2008
Well.
I am a company. Invest resources and provide REAL JOBS to REAL PEOPLE. I introduce a new device, or a device that is interesting enough for consumers to purchase one.
And then someone simply puts a free software on my platform talking about it as if it was solving world's hunger.
Sorry if I seem harsh, but all this is going way beyond normal.
One more thing to all who are now working on the iPhone Linux whatever. I don't understand you, I really don't.
There is a ton of other phones already working on some sort of Linux platform. Why don't you concentrate on ironing the bugs on these ones out?
Ah... I understand, the iPhone is way cooler.
It is newsworthy that someone managed to install Linux on an iPhone, but I personally feel that it is not a real "exploit", just someone seeking advertisement.
When Linux is on a phone which offers more value for my money than the iPhone, then I would be more than happy to buy it.
/criticism
/harsh
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mark said 1:58PM on 11-29-2008
And I don't understand YOU. Why don't you solve whatever problems you feel need to be solved instead.
I'm sure you have hobbies many of us would feel are stupid, or we don't "get", or are a waste of time. why don't you squash the bugs on other phones with your apparent abundance of free time instead?