The iPhone Dev Team have released their pwnage tool for 2G and 3G phones. The tool jailbreaks both generations of phones on the 2.0 software, and also unlocks the 2G’s. (Full disclosure, I am on the Dev Team)

“Ebony and Ivory - Live together in perfect harmony”

While that old McCartney/Jackson Wonder lyric might be a bit of a stretch, the fact that the 2.0 software versions of the iPhone have now been opened up to the open source community is wonderful news for devs who don’t want, don’t like, are unable or unapproved to be a part of the app store.

While the $99 entry fee plus 30% (if you decide to charge) isn’t a deterrent for some of the larger software houses, it does prevent some hobbyists and open source people from getting in on the fun. Also, if you do decide to play nice, you are at the whim of what they deem to be appropriate to put in their store. (Just ask our friend Erica who’s already been turned down for inclusion of some of her apps).

There is no denying that there are some great apps in the app store. I’ve already dropped quite a bit of scratch on some games. It mostly comes down to the fact that we feel we should be able to put whatever we want on our hardware. Imagine the backlash if you could only buy apps for you personal computer through an “App store”.

The best part is that jailbroken phones with open source apps can live in harmony with the app store and its applications. So now you can have your cake and eat it too.