gyrof wrote:
> I just purchased an ipod touch and was looking for a good unit
> converter for scientific and engineering applications. The current
> applications available for this platform are pretty pathetic. Has any
> though been given to porting Frink to this platform and/or writing a
> bonafide application for the Apple appstore? I think that an
> incredibly flexible unit converter based in Frink would be very popular.

In short, it's up to the management at Apple. Frink is written in
Java and requires a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to run in. (A JVM is
just another piece of software.) Sun's engineers (and companies like
InnaWorks) have demonstrated a working JVM for the iPhone and iPod
Touch, but Apple's draconian licensing terms prevent anyone from getting it.

Specifically, Apple's license prohibits any *non-Apple* product from
downloading or launching code from the network, and they prohibit Java
because it *could* theoretically do these things if you didn't secure
it. Of course, since day one, Java was designed with a security model
that can finely control what an application is allowed to do, and could
prevent such things, so that's a bit of a red herring.

There are hints that Sun is still in negotiations with Apple on this
issue, but it's up to Apple to reverse this decision. Frink runs fine
on a lot of phones and other handheld devices like the Sharp Zaurus,
Symbian devices, or anything that runs Java 1.1 or higher, and has for
years. Even on platforms with hardware and memory *much* weaker than
the iPhone.

When phones and other devices start shipping with Google's "Android"
platform, which is highly Java-centered, that may change Apple's mind.
That will probably produce a lot of handheld-friendly Java applications.

If Apple ever allows Java on the iPhone/Touch, Frink will follow
shortly, perhaps at the very same instant. The exact same .jar file
runs without modification on any non-micro JVM, after all...

More info about licensing in the Slashdot article:
http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/11/1216211

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eliasen@... | for understanding."
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