We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices • Hacker News Board

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#11

Post by simion314 » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:07 PM UTC

vocram wrote: post #7

How could we benefit from having Linux on old iDevices? Would I be able to repurpose a device to do something useful I can’t do with iOS?

>How could we benefit from having Linux on old iDevices?

On old devices that do not get updates your internet will stop working because of old browser, missing SSL certificates or old libraries. With Linux you might get an updated browser and you could use the device to browse things and you can do whatever your mind can imagine like maybe write a simple bash/python script to automate something.

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#12

Post by Gigachad » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:18 PM UTC

vocram wrote: post #7

How could we benefit from having Linux on old iDevices? Would I be able to repurpose a device to do something useful I can’t do with iOS?

A somewhat newish iPhone would be more powerful than the raspberry pi. And I have got good use out of the pi for hosting game servers for small numbers of users. You can also get old apple devices way cheaper than new equivalent single board computers.

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#13

Post by refracture » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC

woolion wrote: post #2

Although it's always good news to have Linux on more device, in the case of Apple I find it a bit problematic. That means you encourage Apple getting a huge cut on device sale. Or further justify the high prices of second-hand device because now you can 'give them a second-life' (to counter Apple's in-house planned obsolescence program). It's not just about freedom. Apple's walled-garden means you need in every compa…

The only thing I could imagine Apple doing with regards to seeing Linux running on their mobile hardware is further engineer ways to prevent it.

I'm personally hoping Apple A5 devices are able to run Linux too as my iPad 2 is 11 years old, has a great battery and is in good condition but hasn't seen a software update in years.

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#14

Post by numpad0 » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC

vocram wrote: post #7

How could we benefit from having Linux on old iDevices? Would I be able to repurpose a device to do something useful I can’t do with iOS?

I don't know, but iDevices are more ubiquitous than other phones. It's much easier to source 100 of iPhone 6 than to collect same number of, Nexus ... whatever.

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#15

Post by sgjohnson » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:22 PM UTC

woolion wrote: post #2

Although it's always good news to have Linux on more device, in the case of Apple I find it a bit problematic. That means you encourage Apple getting a huge cut on device sale. Or further justify the high prices of second-hand device because now you can 'give them a second-life' (to counter Apple's in-house planned obsolescence program). It's not just about freedom. Apple's walled-garden means you need in every compa…

> to counter Apple's in-house planned obsolescence program

Apple does not do planned obsolescence. iPhone 6S is going to be be supported for 8 years total. (It's not going to receive feature updates anymore, as iOS 16 won't support it, but it also means that iOS 15 gets another year of support)

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#16

Post by heretogetout » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:24 PM UTC

Gigachad wrote: post #12

vocram wrote: post #7

How could we benefit from having Linux on old iDevices? Would I be able to repurpose a device to do something useful I can’t do with iOS?

A somewhat newish iPhone would be more powerful than the raspberry pi. And I have got good use out of the pi for hosting game servers for small numbers of users. You can also get old apple devices way cheaper than new equivalent single board computers.

And as a bonus they come with GPS, compasses, accelerometers, and of course network connectivity, out of the box (if you can figure out how to access them, anyway).

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#17

Post by alistairSH » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:28 PM UTC

rtpg wrote: post #5

tmikaeld wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There will be millions of no-longer-supported Apple units out there, it makes sense to give them a second life with Linux rather than throwing them in a landfill. And linux on it would not run Apple apps, it would run Firefox or Chromium.

So loads of people have testified that using old Androids as long term computing devices just doesn't work cuz the machines can't deal with being on all the time. I wonder if iPhones and the like are any different on this front. Would you be able to build up a little serve farm of these things?

That's kind of weird, since phones are generally on all the time when being actively used. I guess it depends on what active/sleep "modes" are available - ie can Linux on Apple run processes with the screen asleep or whatever. As long as it's plugged in, it should be workable, maybe.

But, in my mind, you wouldn't try to build a server farm out of 5+ year old iPads. Instead, you'd continue to use them as consumption devices. Read books, browse web, ie all the things most iPads are doing when new.

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#18

Post by bogwog » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:29 PM UTC

Gigachad wrote: post #12

vocram wrote: post #7

How could we benefit from having Linux on old iDevices? Would I be able to repurpose a device to do something useful I can’t do with iOS?

A somewhat newish iPhone would be more powerful than the raspberry pi. And I have got good use out of the pi for hosting game servers for small numbers of users. You can also get old apple devices way cheaper than new equivalent single board computers.

And the iPhone has a built-in touch screen, wifi, bluetooth, two cameras, internal storage, a GPU, a bunch of sensors, a giant battery, physical buttons, speakers, microphone, a giant market for third-party peripherals, cases, chargers, mounts, etc...AND it's way easier to get your hands on an iPhone (especially an old one) than a Raspberry Pi today.

Sure, getting everything to work in a Linux port wouldn't be easy, but it does clearly show the value of such a thing.

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#19

Post by ntoskrnl » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:30 PM UTC

woolion wrote: post #2

Although it's always good news to have Linux on more device, in the case of Apple I find it a bit problematic. That means you encourage Apple getting a huge cut on device sale. Or further justify the high prices of second-hand device because now you can 'give them a second-life' (to counter Apple's in-house planned obsolescence program). It's not just about freedom. Apple's walled-garden means you need in every compa…

Let's say I have an iPhone 6 that stopped receiving updates. What do you suggest I do with it:

- landfill

- install Linux

- something else?

Re: We got Linux on the iPhone, iPad and other idevices

#20

Post by fareesh » Thu, Jun 09, 2022, 1:35 PM UTC

I remember being in an IRC regularly 10-12 years ago where there was a community that was semi-active about a project to port android to the iPhone created by David Wang (planetbeing). There were a few builds going around at the time which I tried out. This video had gone somewhat viral at the time which is what sparked my interest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJj0kHQgC9w. It seems like that project eventually became "Project Sandcastle" and the whole topic has seen some kind of recent resurgence from the looks of it.