Linux on iPhone in 2013

zephzeph
Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Hello all,

I have an iPhone 3GS (8GB) in pretty good condition, term is about to expire and AT&T is contractually obliged to unlock the phone.

Rather than selling it for next to nothing, I thought it would be cool to see if I can get Linux to work on it, preferably Ubuntu as I am already familiar with it, but any other distro is fine, too, as long as I get a fully functional phone in the end!

I have done a few searches on the subject but there is preciously little recent info out there, with most threads dating back to 2008 and a few from 2010. I have posted in Ubuntu's forum as well but zip.

I would love to hear from anybody who knows more about this than I do! Thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Originally Posted by zeph View Post


    …AT&T is contractually obliged to unlock the phone.


     


    Good luck with that. Who says?






    Rather than selling it for next to nothing, I thought it would be cool to see if I can get Linux to work on it, preferably Ubuntu as I am already familiar with it, but any other distro is fine, too, as long as I get a fully functional phone in the end!



     


    Not gonna happen.

  • Reply 2 of 5
    zephzeph Posts: 133member
    AT&T says so. It is standard procedure. https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/

    Could you elaborate on "not gonna happen"?
  • Reply 3 of 5
    banchobancho Posts: 1,517member


    AT&T should unlock the phone if you ask once it's out of contract, but as with any customer service experience, it may or may not be a simple task.


     


    I've never heard of anyone getting linux working on an iPhone, but if you're into challenges that may be an interesting one.

     

  • Reply 4 of 5
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Originally Posted by zeph View Post


    AT&T says so. It is standard procedure. https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/ Could you elaborate on "not gonna happen"?


     


    Oh! They even do the old ones now? Huh. Thanks.


     


    It's not going to be possible to get Linux, in any form, onto the iPhone in even a non-functional state. The best you can hope for is Android 2.2.


     


    Seriously, you can actually put Android on that sucker. Don't know why you'd want to other than just to say you did it, but you can. I put 1.6 on my first-gen iPhone once. It was the least functional the device has ever been. And the keyboard; don't get me started… image

  • Reply 5 of 5
    zephzeph Posts: 133member
    Well, I'll get a new iPhone (or equivalent) when we renew our plan (or switch carriers), and sticking Linux on the old iPhone is merely to satisfy my inner geek. Not much interested in Android, I'd like to get Ubuntu Mobile working on it, but the absence of info seems to indicate this is currently not possible.
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