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>Hobbyists enjoyed getting Linux to run on iPods, which was hard to do without the special knowledge and tools Apple possessed. We on the iPod engineering team
by kmeisthax 6y ago
>Hobbyists enjoyed getting Linux to run on iPods, which was hard to do without the special knowledge and tools Apple possessed. We on the iPod engineering team were impressed. But Apple corporate didn’t like it. Starting with the iPod nano, the operating system was signed with a digital signature to block the Linux hackers (and others).
I'd like to know exactly why they were opposed to this, given that this was way before the App Store was a thing and there's nothing to protect otherwise.
- ikeboy 6y agoThey used to sell games in iTunes for iPod OS. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod_game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod_game
- xuki 6y agoApple likes control, that's it really.
- babypuncher 6y agoI'm sure it was a security thing. Imagine malware that makes nefarious changes to an iPod's firmware when plugged in. Now the iPod can be used to infect other machines it gets plugged in to.