Jorgensen.org.uk

As I recently got an iPhone4 for work, I've been trying to make the best use of it - it already handles the instant messaging (mostly Skype), Nagios alerts (an XMPP client) and obviously email. And sometimes phone calls, microphone allowing. But I was still missing (at least) one thing that I had working on other phones: tethering.

As it turns out, others have had similar desires and come up with solutions. By now, the things needed for this is available in Debian Squeeze - the "test" release of Debian (which happens to be rock-stable), so installing the required bits is as easy as installing anything else:

apt-get install ipheth-utils 

and switch on "Internet Tethering" on the iPhone. Then plug the phone into the USB port. The combination of linux kernel, ipheth kernel module (which is now in the mainline kernel, so no need to install ipheth-dkms), Network Manager and DHCP takes care of the rest :-)

Allegedly it is also possible to do over bluetooth, but I have not tried that yet. The phone tends to drain its battery within 36 hours, so the cable needs to be at hand anyway.

Note: Since this will send your PC's network traffic through the iPhone, additional data charges may apply. Buyer beware. Don't blame me.

Recently I got a new phone for/from work: an iPhone4 - although it is a nice piece of hardware, it immediately presented me with a problem: It has system requirements which are over the top:

Requirements: Minimum wireless service plan may be required to activate iPhone features, including iPod features * Mac or PC with USB 2.0 * Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP3) * iTunes 9.2 or later required for some features (free download from www.itunes.com/download) * iTunes Store account * Internet access

After charging the phone, the truth comes out: Until it has been activated through iTunes, it will only do emergency calls. So "some features" really is "99.99% of use cases". Thanks a lot Apple.  Or to use their logic: "Some times I will no longer trust Apple".

It turns out that you need a lot more than just the phone, a charger and a phone contract before you can even consider using this thing:

• iPhone4 needs activation
• activation requires iTunes 9.2 or later
• iTunes requires Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP or Mac OS
• iTunes requires an iTunes Store Account
• a iTunes Store Account requires a valid credit card (even if you are not buying anything!!)
• using the phone constitutes acceptance of the software agreement, warranty and third-party terms (all of which are inside the box, unaccessible until after you've bought it and opened it).

I am quite relieved that I did not purchase this thing for myself - my personal phone will never be an iPhone.  But it still left me with the problem of how to activate the phone, since I run Debian GNU/Linux both at home and at work...