iPhone: Open SDK vs Closed SDK

Hackers have been hard at work updating the open source iPhone SDK to work with Apple's newest unreleased firmware and here is what they have found: nearly everything that worked with earlier firmware continues to compile and work with the newer firmware. Although Apple limited, refined and molded the CocoaTouch API, I'm told that all previous functionality remains in-place in private undeclared form.

What this means is that a big part of the Aspen firmware update for the open SDK involved re-creating header files and adding declarations that handled changes in nomenclature and enumerated constants. The new Aspen Tool Chain is available for download. It requires a 1.2 iPhone installation--available only to those people accepted into the $99/$299 developer/enterprise programs.

As for programming on the Closed SDK, reports are mixed. Some developers seem to love the new tools and full development environment. Others liken the SDK to programming while wearing mittens. Due to Apple's NDA, I couldn't find any developer that was prepared to speak openly, let alone be quoted on a public weblog.

The Open SDK is clearly here to stay for a while to come. With its expanded classes, full headers and open community support the so-called "Jailbreak" community looks not only vibrant and thriving but also growing.