I wonder if it would be against the NDA to write and distribute a targeted parser/rewriter that transforms a particular bit of FOSS code to something that runs on the iPhone?
You wouldn't be distributing your iPhone app's code. You wouldn't be distributing the FOSS code -- presumably it's already being distributed by someone else. What you would be distributing the source code for wouldn't be running on the iPhone.
I see two major flaws with this approach. First, it's invasive. You have to open an additional hole in your network to allow traffic into the app, which makes your network inherently less secure. Second, unless you do an audit of the source, there are no guarantees as to the security of the app itself. This app of unknown reliability would be acting as a 24/7 gatekeeper into your network.
You could hide it behind VPN, I guess, but that kinda defeats the purpose of secure shell.
Not really. OpenSSH is a battle-tested ssh server. You can be resonably sure that opening it to the world will not compromise your network. Not so of this ajax ssh app. Basically it's a question of exposure. Am I comfortable exposing OpenSSH? Yes. Ajax ssh app? No way. Not without further testing and widespread acceptance.
My kingdom for the TAB key! Seriously, when you're using one of these little guys, be it Apple, Nokia, whatever, autocomplete is your friend! The tab key is always missing, or 3 clicks or taps away.
The screenshots of this app are horrible. It looks like whoever made it didn't use native iPhone GUI elements... the corners and edges of the toggle between SSH // Telnet // Raw TCP look like total crap. The text for the nickname, port, etc... seems to be squeezed a bit and it appears blurred (unless of course this is due to a photoshop edit later on).
And for $5... come on! PuTTY is free and open source, why isn't this too!
I upgraded to 2.0.1 and lost all my jailbroken functionality in exchange for stable and bug-free core features. I'm definitely going that route again once they catch up and release their latest Pwnage tool.
After waiting several months for developers to write and release code, you might be able to cobble together a bunch of apps that make up for the iPhone's flaws. The situation is identical to that of Windows.