Cydia Packager Looks To Replace Installer.app

Cydia is a front-end for Debian APT a mature packaging solution for Unix systems, designed to replace Installer.app and overcome many of its limitations. It was created by Jay Freeman, ie saurik.

In order to provide some relief for these issues, I have decided to start a project called Telesphoreo with the goal of creating a distribution of GNU and BSD's userspace for the iPhone as a collaborative, open-source project. The name is an ancient Greek word meaning "to bring fruit to perfection or maturity", which I feel is what needs to be done to Apple's product: it's passable as a phone, but as a portable workstation it is almost unmatched... with the right software.

For distribution, I have chosen Debian's APT, which I have ported to this new platform along with a few custom tweaks to integrate better with Apple's network settings. I have also spent the time to write a UIKit front-end to APT called Cydia, in order to make the transition easier for a larger number of users. (Cydia pomonella is the scientific name for the codling moth, which is what we often think of the as the stereotypical apple worm. I felt the name was fitting.)



You can try the Installer by adding http://apptapp.saurik.com/ as a source to Installer and install the package "Cydia Packager" from the "System" category.

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