Submitted by Chad Shmukler on
When hackers announced that they had compiled, installed, and run the first third party program on the iPhone, the 'Hello World' application, the typical consumer probably didn't get all that excited. After all, what's the big deal about a program that simply prints out "Hello World".
Though not very exciting, it was very significant. The running of that first application signaled the success of iPhone hacker Nightwatch's toolchain and hinted and things to come. Well, here they come.
Using Nightwatch's toolchain, iPhone hackers have now compiled and installed working versions of Python, Vim (a popular terminal text editor), and Apache. That's right, Apache. In other words, you can now run a webserver on your iPhone.
The reality brought forth by these recent developments is that full fledged third party applications are going to happen for the iPhone whether Applewants them or not. Compiling and running "Hello World" may not have made that clear, but working versions of major, robust pieces of software certainly does.
Should you be technically inclined, you can find the compiled versions of Apache, Python, Vim, and related required software by poking around on the iPhone Dev Wiki page.
Comments
kyle248 replied on Permalink
I'm sure there's a reason someone would want to run Apache on the iPhone, it's just eluding me. :)
Anonymous replied on Permalink
Wicked photoshop job. :)
JW replied on Permalink
Why to run Apache... OK, consider that any 3rd party app at this point is just a widget, accessed via the web. Now consider that you may be in some location with no WiFi or Edge service, you're bored, and want to play a game. With the ability to have Apache running locally, you can fire up a widget stored locally, and have a nice game of solitaire, blast aliens, or whatever.
Just one example, but the possibilities are endless.