I could be mistaken (as I haven't actually researched this), but I don't think there is any way around needing OSX to package for iOS. Even tools like cordova/phonegap hook into a base Xcode project when it comes to compiling and packaging.
Yeah, that seems to be the consensus. I don't want to exclude anyone, but since I'm a Linux guy, I don't run any OSX, and quite frankly it seems like an unnecessarily high barrier to entry to require a single platform to develop for a device. Android, for instance, has SDKs for the three major desktop platforms, plus I can sideload without rooting or having to pay a yearly fee.
If you're making games for the fun of it, your advice is spot on. But it's a terrible way to make a business decision if revenue matters. It's really more of a question of whether he has good reason to believe that 70% of the revenue is enough to cover an investment in a Mac + Developer Program. I don't much like Windows, but the investment in a license for Windows and Visual Studio has been returned many times over. Nevertheless, Android is a great place to start—on any platform.
1) What I want to do is create apps that scratch itches I've had for years, and they're all outside of work, and even if there was something available off the shelf, I'd kind of like to be able to hack on it (have source), just for practicality and fun's sake.
2) I don't want these apps to be restricted to any one platform.
3) I never plan to monetize these apps.
You're right - if I was going in this to make money, it's a simple decision. Pitted against my time and potential revenue, a Mac + Developer Program is dirt cheap.
OTOH, I develop in Emacs and Linux for a reason, even when I'm developing software for Windows. Since investing in a Mac + Developer Program would be a net loss by definition, I'm looking for any way to still be able to make these apps available for iOS. Looks like Apple doesn't want that kind of hobbyist input to their ecosystem (and yes, while I'm a professional in that I get paid for same at the day job, I consider these apps as hobby projects).
The nice thing about both Kivy and haXe is that web apps are a strong possibility, and one I was thinking of doing anyway. Of course, with enough dev time, I could take any language/framework and make a web app from it. I wouldn't be surprised if there is already a library (or it's trivially easy) to generate JS or HTML5 from Scheme or some other Lisp :)
