The Channel Wire

December 01, 2008

A group of Apple enthusiast developers last week celebrated a significant milestone by getting a rudimentary version of Linux to run on the iPhone. Now it remains to be seen whether Apple, which is well known for not appreciating this type of activity, will move to break this new open-source bridge.

In a Friday post to the Linux On The iPhone blog, a group called the iPhone Dev Team said it had successfuly ported a rough draft of the Linux 2.6 kernel to the iPhone.

The barebones port includes framebuffer driver and serial drivers and memory management unit (MMU), but doesn't enable higher-end features like touch screen, wireless networking and sound. Still, the iPhone Dev Team says the port represents the first "real alternative operating system" to run on the iPhone.

The IPhone Dev Team posted a video demonstration showing the functions of the Linux-iPhone port. On the page, team member 'planetbeing' said the Linux port is a reflection of the group's admiration for the iPhone's interface and integration, and isn't an example of malicious hacking.

"I think iPhone Linux has a future as an operating system that you can use alongside the existing iPhone OS," wrote 'planetbeing.' "I also think this will let iPhone users see what the open-source competition is offering, and perhaps choose to purchase it as their next phone."

Michael Oh, president of Boston-based Apple reseller Tech Superpowers, said Apple probably won't support the Linux port, but will also take care not to respond in heavy-handed fashion.

"Apple definitely realizes that because OS X has Unix underpinnings, any move to shut down the open-source community won't be well received," Oh said. "There could conceivably be an incremental increase in iPhone sales because of increased open-source community interest."