Not sure how current this is but .......
http://www.saurik.com/id/1http://www.saurik.com/id/5Basically it seems apple basically did what ipaq (Compaq's pocket pc) before they got bought out by HP
With the origional ipaq you could wipe out the windows ce and install linux on it.
From there you basically had a small linux box complete with xserver
, which was pretty cool even considering how old the hardware was.
Biggie was that storage then was really expensive (ie SD cards etc)
When HP buy compaq the project was dumped.
Also the GUI (or what ever u want to call it) is ObjC. Python already has a binding for that.
Big problem was when MS made windows CE it was a "stripped version" of the real windows.
Even more stupid was that MS on WinCE did not even have a complete standard C library and replaced these functions with thier own stupid versions.
So basically it made porting very hard.
So it appears get your favorite open source language and compile almost.
The biggie python has going for it was that early on it was adopted by the "scientific comunity".
Scientists had all these C/fortran libraries which they wanted to use from python.
As a result the ability to interface from python to C is very simple and there are a multitude of options open.
(ok it is never simple when u do that, but with python a lot easier
)
If you are concerned about "size" of the binary (which is not really an issue on the iphone).
lua or something like "chicken scheme" would be logical choices. Both wieght in at like 300-400K
Also in lua and "chicken scheme" interfacing to C is quite easy.
lua is heavily used by the gaming industry since it was designed from the start to be an embedded language.
Anyway got side tracked reading about "jailed" iphones and apple app store. Kind of a two edged sword.
There is the anti-trust issue but on the other hand with nokia and wince cellphones which are not jailed the danger was not as great.
To make a malious program for a wince based cell phone, how many targets are available, even if it is running wince what is the odds it has the same processor as the one u where targeting etc. So the chance of spreading this malicious program is slim etc.
With the internet it was designed from the military so it has reduncies in there, it is designed to work under extreme conditions, parts of it knocked out, and i am not sure if the designers thought of this but maybe even some sort of enemy infiltration. From what i understand the cellphone system was designed with the assumption that only "legitimate" devices would be using it.
If the only users of IPhones where people on this board lets say, having a non-jailed iphone is no problem. But they are not. 99% of people are techie stupid, they will install any POS. What would be the consequences of a simple thing like a malicous program that just dialed numbers in lets say NYC ?
I used to be all "freedom" and choice for the people. But I guess living in PH has changed me
. Here is is very diverse. Even in families. Often the oldest brother of a family will "sacrafice" himself. At age 14-15 he will quit school and work so that the rest of his brothers can go to university. So you end up with wierd paradoxes
. An oldest brother who is little more then a thug, the man speaks "cow english". He is intelligent then but not knowledeable. Nice guy, just he has never been to school. Then you are shocked to find out that his next brother is a medical doctor. And the other brother is a dean in a prominant university. It is comical when they all stand next to each other. The oldest brother looks like a cave man
he even lives in a simple house etc. Meanwhile the other 2 brothers are filipino yuppies
driving a BMW. Probably the younger brothers would buy the oldest brother a BMW, but what does he want with a BMW when all his friends live in the mountains in houses which do not even have glass windows, and the BMW is too big to fit on the road and will get broken
. And this contrast can happen in a matter of 5-10 km.
In singapore when it gained independence there was a similar situtation. Maybe 10-20% of the population extremely educated. 80-90% so backwards it is not funny. You can not use "intellectual" arguements why you should not just piss on the street, or spit on the street. This is the habit of the 80% of the population. And in a traditional society pissing and spitting on the street is no danger, but in a large city of 10+million it is. So basically you just have to enforce "draconian" measures. You spit on the street first offence $100 fine, next offense a flogging. Now that singapore is a rich country they are now able to educate these 90% etc. And so they no longer need to be so strict. Here again the wheels fall off democracy. If you had an election in singapore 40 years ago and voted on "spitting in the street" the 90% of the people would think it is a great idea
When i first lived here, with my help I attempted to use "logical" arguments why they should do things the way I told them. I found out it is a waste of breath. Do what I say, I am the boss etc. If you want to work for me do this or you fired.
On principal I am against "jailed iphones" and only apple store distributing apps but .........
