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If TN5250 why not Terminal/ssh?

D

diesel

macrumors 6502a
Aug 3, 2007
807
25
jaseone said:
If a developer can write a TN5250 emulator using the SDK and have it approved for the app store then what is preventing a similar app being developed so we can SSH on to servers emulating the appropriate terminal (3270?)?

EDIT: Forgot the link to the app - http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284741179&mt=8
Click to expand...


patience young padawan, assuming that a ssh app won't be in violation of the sdk or anything, then i'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone comes out with one
 
Q

queenmaryo

macrumors newbie
Jul 23, 2008
4
0
I emailed MochaSoft (the people that make TN5250) and here is my email:

I noticed you released a TN5250 client for the iphone and had an ssh
client available for other platforms. I was wondering if you were
planning on releasing an ssh client for the iphone.

An ssh client for the iphone would be of great use to me and I would
happily buy one for a reasonable cost.​

And the response

We have a pre-beta version SSH/Telnet, but there is an issue
with US export regulations and 128 bit encryption.

If we find a solution to this issue, we will continue with the Telnet/SSH
project. Otherwise we may later just release a Telnet only product

At the moment we are waiting on Apple, to give a reply.


jan f - mochasoft support​

In order to export strong encryption (used by ssh) the software must be either open source (against apple's sdk) or have a technical review with BXA and NSA. See here for more info: http://www.debian.org/legal/cryptoinmain
 
paj

paj

macrumors regular
Jun 14, 2003
211
1
USA
jwflutterby said:
no kidding! how many people still use AS/400's ??
Click to expand...
It's not a case of 'still'. The AS/400 is still selling under the name of iSeries. It's probably the most common midrange computing platform for enterprise computing.

I must admit though. I got excited when I saw the app in the hope it supported SSH. :(
 
F

firewood

macrumors G3
Jul 29, 2003
8,141
1,384
Silicon Valley
queenmaryo said:
In order to export strong encryption (used by ssh) the software must be either open source (against apple's sdk) or have a technical review with BXA and NSA. See here for more info: http://www.debian.org/legal/cryptoinmain
Click to expand...

Not all Open Source licenses are incompatible with Apple's SDK license. My random guess (but IANAL) is that a BSD, MIT or Apple's very own Open Source license would be quite compatible with the SDK's. GPL v3, probably not.
 
rdrr

rdrr

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2003
532
1,243
NH
About OpenSSH being against Apples SDK

But apple itself uses OpenSSH v4.7p1 on my OSX 10.5.4 macbook. :confused:
 
Q

queenmaryo

macrumors newbie
Jul 23, 2008
4
0
Not all Open Source licenses are incompatible with Apple's SDK license.
Click to expand...

The ssh issue really has nothing to do with the GPL and all to do with apple not wanting any of their SDK open. There are two 'issues' with license compatibility...

1) A GPL'd piece of software can't go into the apple store because it will no longer follow the GPL. This is a restriction based on the GPL. The GPL is 'viral' and everything that uses something that has history with the GPL must be GPL'd. This is not compatible with the Apple store because the source will include apple SDK stuff and apple won't let that touch the GPL.

2) A less restrictive open source license that allows derivative products to not follow the same license in its entirety can result in software in the apple store. The problem is these products can not be fully open source because apple doesn't want any of the SDK stuff opened up. So these products no longer fall under the open source crypto export rules.
 
bit_bucket

bit_bucket

macrumors 6502
Jul 18, 2002
250
60
Summerville, SC
canadacow said:
I have an SSH app in the works. Should be out shortly.

http://www.zinger-soft.com/
Click to expand...

I need this app really bad. How are you getting past the GPL issues with the OpenSSH libs?

I am also curious how this works with the SDK not allowing background apps to run. Since SSH is statefull, when you get a call and the app closes, this would kill the session, unless you have found a way around this.

Also, I volunteer if you need a beta tester :)
 
JD92

JD92

macrumors 6502a
Apr 14, 2005
934
31
queenmaryo said:
The ssh issue really has nothing to do with the GPL and all to do with apple not wanting any of their SDK open. There are two 'issues' with license compatibility...

1) A GPL'd piece of software can't go into the apple store because it will no longer follow the GPL. This is a restriction based on the GPL. The GPL is 'viral' and everything that uses something that has history with the GPL must be GPL'd. This is not compatible with the Apple store because the source will include apple SDK stuff and apple won't let that touch the GPL.
Click to expand...

Actually Apple's SDK does have OSS code in it, it uses a modified version of GCC.

I'm not sure about this, but I think you could release an LGPL app on the app store. Not sure if that would be against that stupid NDA.
 
jaseone

jaseone

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 7, 2004
1,246
59
Houston, USA
B

backspinner

macrumors 6502a
Apr 29, 2002
548
0
Eindhoven
bit_bucket said:
I am also curious how this works with the SDK not allowing background apps to run. Since SSH is statefull, when you get a call and the app closes, this would kill the session, unless you have found a way around this.

Also, I volunteer if you need a beta tester :)
Click to expand...

For the moment, I don't care if the connection is lost if a call comes in or if you press the home button. For emergency ssh work that is acceptable.

Would be nice to test this application. Example screens look good!
 
Q

queenmaryo

macrumors newbie
Jul 23, 2008
4
0
bit_bucket said:
Since SSH is statefull, when you get a call and the app closes, this would kill the session, unless you have found a way around this.
Click to expand...

This is why I've become a huge fan of screen...

'ssh -t user@host screen -x'

canadacow: will this work correctly with your ssh implementation?
 
bit_bucket

bit_bucket

macrumors 6502
Jul 18, 2002
250
60
Summerville, SC
queenmaryo said:
This is why I've become a huge fan of screen...

'ssh -t user@host screen -x'

canadacow: will this work correctly with your ssh implementation?
Click to expand...

Oh yeah screen is a wonderfull tool that I use every day. I was thinking if apple put some code into the notification service to do persistant background through a daemon on the device then routing ssh traffic through it would keep the connection open and solve the issue of statefullness. Otherwise I am just going to use screen.
 
C

canadacow

macrumors member
Jul 24, 2008
76
0
Well, so far I have two solutions for the "stateful" connection issue.

1) Yes, arbitrary execution of applications is configurable. and

2) Multiple connections are allowed. If you want to open multiple SSH sessions you will be able to switch between them as though you do now with IM conversations in AIM. (And yes, I'm trying to see if I can't figure out some sort of cut/paste mechanism between the sessions.)

But yes, at close all the SSH sessions are exited and closed. Not much I can do there.

Hopefully the two elements above should alleviate the impact of losing sessions on closing the app.
 
M

mieky

macrumors newbie
Jul 29, 2008
1
0
built-in browser?

I gather one of the Twitter applications manages to have a built-in browser so you can visit linked pages without leaving the app.

Would this be possible? It'd be one of the solutions to the background connection issue for me (since my main use case is that I need to restart something, run some database query or whatever, and then check a result in the browser).

If you could do this, I'd be buying your app. And an iPhone to run it on, actually...
 
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