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Emulation (Games) Iphone Apple

DOS Emulator In and Out of App Store 338

Posted by CmdrTaco from the going-for-hte-record dept.
gent01 writes "A company called Fast Intelligence got DOSBox running on iOS and dubbed it iDOS. It's been stuck in review for the app store for some time. Evidently the iDOS app was in the app store this morning, but it has already been taken down."
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DOS Emulator In and Out of App Store More

DOS Emulator In and Out of App Store

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  • I would've been first but... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @05:41PM (#34030878)
    Bad command or file name.
    • abort, retry, fail?

  • Why emulate Denial of Service? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Orga ( 1720130 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @05:42PM (#34030892)
    Aren't most iPhones still on AT&T? I'm not sure why you'd need to emulate no service.

  • Well, duh. (Score:5, Informative)

    by pclminion ( 145572 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @05:42PM (#34030894)
    Duh. By emulating DOS, you allow the user to run any DOS program they want. In other words, you make the device programmable. That's a no-no on the App store.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by gman003 ( 1693318 )
      So why did it get approved in the first place?

      • Re:Well, duh. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Jah-Wren Ryel ( 80510 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @05:50PM (#34031028)

        So why did it get approved in the first place?

        Because most of the people in charge of doing approvals are too young to remember what DOS is. ;->

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward

        The reviewer probably thought it was a gimmick that just emulated the experience of DOS... Kinda like a "blue screen" screensaver or whatever.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by adonoman ( 624929 )
          Given the stuff that is being approved, I think this is it exactly. It's sad that it's easier to get these gimmicks approved than something that's actually useful.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by countertrolling ( 1585477 )

        They wanted to play gorilla.bas

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by robmv ( 855035 )

      That or because it is based on dosbox, that is GPL licensed, and we already know that Apple App Store and GPL does not mix [fsf.org]

      • VLC [apple.com] would disagree with that.

        • VLC is reported to be GPL2 (I don't see it on their website, so "reported") and the real problem is with the GPL3. If VLC is GPL2 then the app must have information about where to acquire a copy of the source code, which is not a problem. GPL3 requires that all signing keys or anything else needed to run modified versions of the code be distributed with the source, and Apple won't do that.

      • Re:Well, duh. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Enderandrew ( 866215 ) <enderandrew@NOsPAM.gmail.com> on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @06:29PM (#34031630) Homepage Journal

        The App Store has no problem with Battle for Wesnoth as a GPL app. Apple doesn't have a problem with the GPL. The FSF has a problem with Apple.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Culture20 ( 968837 )
          I was all: "Awesome!", Then I saw that it's $0.99. I could compile it myself, but that would cost me $99. Every time I think I've decided to stick with iPhone4 for my next phone, I see a reason to buy an n900 instead.

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by maxume ( 22995 )

            Are there hundreds of games that you think it would be "Awesome!" to have on your phone that costs $500 and requires a $2,000 service contract, or are you just trying to make a point in the most ridiculous way possible?

          • Re:Well, duh. (Score:4, Interesting)

            by RichiH ( 749257 ) on Wednesday October 27, 2010 @05:18AM (#34035464) Homepage

            > Every time I think I've decided to stick with iPhone4 for my next phone, I see a reason to buy an n900 instead.

            That will continue to be the case. Until the N9 comes out at which point your focus will change from N900 to N9. Or HTC Desire / Desire HD, if you like Android.

            I have a co-worker with a iPhone 3GS and one with an iPad. Both are annoyed at what the HTC Desire does what they can't.

        • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

          by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @08:16PM (#34032884)
          Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by rsmith-mac ( 639075 )
      Except that Apple allows programmable emulators [engadget.com] as of last month, when they approved the C64 emulator with BASIC support. But hey, don't let that get in the way of a righteous story.
      • Apple has been very inconsistent in it's application of it's own rules. The cries of favoritism may not be far from the mark.
    • Bastards! I was getting stoked for some Microsoft Decathlon action...I used to be the fastest "greater than" symbol in the 400 meter dash.

      • Bastards! I was getting stoked for some Microsoft Decathlon action...I used to be the fastest "greater than" symbol in the 400 meter dash.

        I consistently broke the shot-put guy's arm. It's not supposed to bend that way!

  • It was pc/ms-dos, not ProDOS -T
    • Heh... they have nixed a commodore 64 emulator, and an MSDOS emulator - quick someone whip up an Apple II emulator for them to nix.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Imagix ( 695350 )
      Wow... somebody else that remembers ProDOS.... how about the various incarnations of GS/OS ? ProDOS 16?

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 )

        I'm still ticked that Produs 8 was phased out for Prodos 16. I believe one of the Ultimas used a custom version of Produs 8.

        Sad that (Apple) Dos 3.3 had 30 character filenames in 1979, (Prodos 8 had 15 character filenames AND sub-directories in 1983), yet MS-DOS was stuck in asinine 8.3 mode for 12 years from 1983.

    • It's unlikely most Apple employees today even know what an Apple II is (is that some kind of Mac?) much less DOS 3.2/3 or ProDOS/8. I hesitate to even think if they know the difference between 13 and 16 sector disks.

  • Apple [slashdot.org] leans very far to the left.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Ardaen ( 1099611 )
      Is that to the left? When it comes to totalitarians I have trouble telling the difference between the far left and far right.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by dave562 ( 969951 )

        That's because as you get further away from the center, the far left and far right tend to lean toward each other. It ends up looking more a horseshoe than a V.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by shutdown -p now ( 807394 )

          No, it's because the whole left-right scale is nonsensical. It had some meaning back when it was first used, and up until late 19th, at most early 20th century. It became completely obsolete the moment the self-styled "third way" - fascists and their ilk - appeared.

          Even the two-axis social/economical liberty scale often used by libertarians doesn't quite do the difference justice. Personally, I prefer to separate social freedoms such as lack of sexual or religious discrimination, and political freedoms as i

      • Re:This proves the previous story... (Score:5, Informative)

        by hedwards ( 940851 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @06:27PM (#34031594)
        That's because in the US it's considered acceptable to accuse a politician of being both fascist and socialist at the same time. Both sides when you get far enough are completely nuts, but try comparing Naziism with Soviet Communism. The difference is significant.

    • Apple [slashdot.org] leans very far to the left

      Seems like the lean far right when it comes to controlling what their users can and can't do. In fact maybe just a little right of draconian.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by bonch ( 38532 )

        I've always thought it was strange that draconian control was considered right-of-center. Modern-day liberalism in America, taken to its extreme, usually entails petitioning a centralized entity, such as the government, to enforce ways of living on everyone else, redistribute their income, censor their government criticism, and so on. It's like the political spectrum isn't a horizontal line but a circle where both sides meet at the bottom in the stinking pit of fascism, as if the ultimate goal of any ideolo

        • If you are already slightly (emphasis here) right leaning then anything draconian automatically leans the opposite way.
          • Um yeah sorry about that. It would be left leaning (again emphasis here). While we are on the subject of politics, I love that the republicans have totally co opted the teabagger (whoops tea party) mantra even though it's all the same bullshit. Don't mistake this for partisan speak. I'm in favor of the two party system.... one party in the morning and another in the afternoon.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by interval1066 ( 668936 )
      Chomsky is a dick.

  • Nothing new there, for better or worse the appstore is ruled under dictatorship-like rules. Apple's rules.

    The publishing of the emulator was obviously an unfortunate mistake from someone at apple, since they would be getting lots of request from other emulator writers who previously got their app rejected.

    For example, the famous psx emulator writer tweeted the following just a couple hours ago: http://twitter.com/#!/zodttd/status/28814884233 [twitter.com] followed by http://twitter.com/#!/zodttd/status/28817744190 [twitter.com]

    • Re:Yup (Score:5, Insightful)

      by harrkev ( 623093 ) <kevin.harrelson@ ... om minus painter> on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @05:54PM (#34031104) Homepage

      Really, are they so threatened by a 30-year-old operating system that they have to kill it?

      This is the ONE reason that I hate Apple. Wonderful hardware, great software, management needs to be shot. I am a geek. If somebody arbitrarily decrees that certain classes of software WILL NOT be allowed on a platform, I arbitrarily decree that they get absolutely none of my money.

      If Apple would have a change of heart about such things, I would be their biggest fan. As it is, I am their worst foe.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by betterunixthanunix ( 980855 )

        Really, are they so threatened by a 30-year-old operating system that they have to kill it?

        Anything that would allow a user to run a non-Apple-approved program, anything at all, even a DOS emulator, is against the rules. After all, the users might start thinking that they have some kind of right to run software that was not approved, and next thing you know, they'll be wanting to write programs without paying the fee, or worse yet, they might start wanting to use libre software! None of this, of course, is allowable in Steve Jobs' world, where people are just sheep who are in desperate need o

        • Remember, the Apple ideology is that people should not have any desire to hack their systems; they should simply use them, and rely on Apple to take care of technical details. This has been the case for a very long time now, and as long as Steve Jobs is in charge, you can bet that there won't be any change.

          To be fair, although it's Apple's fault for promoting this idea in the first place, the idiotic masses have lapped the idea up and claim to love it.

          Personally, I'm wondering why the app developers even tried to release this emulator in the App Store. I'd imagine that anyone who'd want to use this would be geeky enough to have a jailbroken iphone, so why not just release it in Cydia? As an added bonus, if they wanted to charge for it, they'd be much less likely to have the app pirated if they released it t

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by adisakp ( 705706 )

          Remember, the Apple ideology is that people [...] should simply use [their systems], and rely on Apple to take care of technical details. This has been the case for a very long time now, and as long as Steve Jobs is in charge, you can bet that there won't be any change.

          And as long as this remains the case for the general public, Apple will remain phenomenally successful.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by joh ( 27088 )

          Remember, the Apple ideology is that people should not have any desire to hack their systems; they should simply use them, and rely on Apple to take care of technical details. This has been the case for a very long time now, and as long as Steve Jobs is in charge, you can bet that there won't be any change.

          Come on, this is not an ideology, it's just a product philosophy and a design principle. The iThings are meant to be used, not to be hacked. And while I'm a geek I'm very happy about these things. Somethi

          • Re:Yup (Score:5, Insightful)

            by meerling ( 1487879 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @07:11PM (#34032184)
            An incorrect quote. "The (laws) are meant to be (followed), not to be (questioned). And while I'm a (citizen) I'm very happy about these things. Something that doesn't require to be (thought about) and that doesn't need to be (discussed) and where even someone is actively taking away any temptation for me to waste my time on it is a nice change now and then."

            Products aren't meant to hacked. That's a voluntary process done by those with the skill and inclination when they feel the need, either from a defect in the original product, a lack of functionality in the original product, or a sense of curiosity and invention. You don't have to hack anything, you don't have to think either, but some people do, and many people feel that someone attempting to prevent them from doing non-dangerous and perfectly legal things with the products they bought is wrong. If you want to read something about the legal basis many people refer to, please look up "Doctrine of First Sale".

            IMO, if you aren't hurting anyone, it's none of their business what you do with your property. So if you don't want to alter your stuff, that's fine, all you need to do is to do nothing, but to say that others shouldn't because you don't feel like it is rather deplorable on your part.

      • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

        by Tildedot ( 137711 )

        Great message! Good tone. A solid effort, and I agree wholeheartedly!
        Not enough people use "decree", I think.

        Still, as I read it to our guys in the breakroom, none of us much care for the closer:
        "As it is, I am their worst foe"

        Something missing, there. It lacks Zing.
        Also, it makes it sound like you're a FOE, just not a very effective one.

        How about these for your next post?

        As it is,
        "...I am their most strident foe!" -- sounds more opposed, I think.
        "...I am their worst nightmare!" -- works well if you're St

      • Easily solved: do your emulating in javascript! I'll get you started. Here's an Apple BASIC interpretor [calormen.com] in javascript. Here's a C64 emulator [kingsquare.nl] in javascript. And here's an NES emulator [benfirshman.com] in javascript!

        • Easily solved: do your emulating in javascript!

          I don't yet own an iPod touch 4 on which to test the JavaScript emulators that you linked. Do they operate anywhere near full speed (1.02 MHz for Apple II and C64 or 1.79 MHz for NES) in Safari on the device?

      • There you go mistaking a dedicated device for a generic computing platform.

        Silly, you fell right into Apple's hands--thinking just what they wanted you to think, you are even holding the iPhone to a higher standard than other phones (which generally have a significantly more strict policy--few if any phones have been as open pre Android).

        Next thing you know you'll be saying the iPad sucks for not being a general-purpose computer, something it was never intended to be. It's a web appliance that happens to

  • It's available for Android (Score:5, Informative)

    by LodCrappo ( 705968 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @05:53PM (#34031084)

    As "aDosBox".. http://androiddosbox.appspot.com/ [appspot.com]

    • Several DOS emulators are available for Windows Mobile. Here's [xda-developers.com] a thread about it on XDA. XDA Forums by the way is a great resource for both Windows Mobile and Android device hacking. (Especially HTC devices, but they support some other popular phones too.)

  • Apps that use interpreted code are not permitted in the app store. This is the same reason that no full browsers other than Safari are allowed on iPhones (Opera Mini has to use a server to interpret Javascript to get around this). iDOS's original approval was a mistake. It won't be admitted to the app store under the current policy.

  • Allright we get it. Apple is a horrible company which strictly controls what happens in its app stores.

    I wonder why people still waste a lot of time developing for it (stuff they know that will break the rules), or developing it at all.

    I also wonder why people still buy apple products if they are so horrible.

    The tone of this post (sarcastic, questioning, forceful?) is left up to your imagination.
    • Money. But unless Apple loosens up quite a bit you're almost certainly going to start seeing a steady stream of developers focusing on other platforms and possibly porting or otherwise bringing their code to the iPhone last.

      Previously it wasn't as much of an issue because the only serious competition was Blackberry,and I'm not sure that a lot of those apps would've worked on a Blackberry.

    • I also wonder why people still buy apple products if they are so horrible.

      An iPod touch, which officially runs apps from the App Store, is a lot cheaper than an Android device that officially runs apps from Android Market. As of right now, one needs to buy a $500 phone to run Market apps, compared to an iPod touch 4 that costs half that. There are packages containing infringing copies of Google's applications that will get the Market working on devices that aren't phones, but Google has cease-and-desisted distribution of packages like these [slashdot.org].

  • The words "Apple," "iPhone," and "iPod" do not appear in the summary or summary's title. Is Apple and the iPhone getting so dominant that we can just assume that "The App Store" is alway's Apple's?
    • The article did mention iOS, so while you could have overlooked it, it did technically say what it was running on, and thus that it was Apple's App Store.

    • No, but when the domain in the article's URL is apple.slashdot.org, yes, we can.

      Also, when the summary refers to the iOS.

  • I could have run cygwin! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Alain Williams ( 2972 ) <addw@phcomp.co.uk> on Tuesday October 26, 2010 @06:32PM (#34031650) Homepage
    If I had DOS then I could have installed an old version of cygwin [cygwin.com] and then got my favourite GNU tools working! Jobs would have had a fit it I could have done that.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by CliffH ( 64518 )

      If I had DOS then I could have installed an old version of cygwin [cygwin.com] and then got my favourite GNU tools working! Jobs would have had a fit it I could have done that.

      Even worse, you could have run loadlin and run an old distro on your phone. Play with it a bit and I'm sure someone would have found another way of getting Android up and running on it. :)

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Nimey ( 114278 )

      No, you couldn't. Cygwin's always required Windows.

      You may be thinking of DJGPP, which was (is) a port of gcc to 32-bit DOS (via DPMI) and also a collection of GNU utilities compiled with same. The utilities are occasionally updated.

  • C:\DOS
    C:\DOS\RUN
    RUN, DOS, RUN!

    OK, so Slashdot doen't like all caps, so I'll include another comment: it would be cool to have Win3.1 running on an iPhone too.

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