to get my netbook running Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope).
It's easy once you install blueman from Synaptic package manager. For
whatever reason, the default Gnome bluetooth manager won't get the job
done.
Open up Bluetooth Manager from "System Preferences". Set your iPhone's
bluetooth to be discoverable.
The iPhone will show up in the list (if not, hit the 'Search' button).
Once it does, click on 'Bond'. 'Bond' will cause your iPhone to tell
you your netbook is trying to pair with it (It actually says 'Netbook
would like to pair with your iPhone', charmingly anthropomorphic).
You want that, so click 'Pair'.
Your iPhone will tell you to confirm that the same passkey is being
displayed in Blueman on your netbook. Confirm this on your netbook
too.
Once this is done, right click on the iPhone in Blueman. Under
'Network access', select 'Network access point'.
That's it, you're tethered. Your connection will show up in Network
Manager as 'bnep0'.