Sony's Kutaragi gave the rumor mill plenty of fodder by speculating that
multiple operating systems were being mulled over for use in the PlayStation 3, and eventually Sony posted an article
confirming its interest in both OS X and
Linux options. Now it appears that we just might have a winner. Terra Soft's website proudly displays that the forthcoming version of Yellow Dog Linux "supports the PlayStation 3 console," and leaves hints that we might see a few sweet video demonstrations in the near future. While intricate details about the the OS's compatibility with the
sure-to-be-scarce console are still few and far between, we're expecting it to drop "in mid-November" to presumably coincide with the
November PS3 launch dates -- but at least pulling strings to get your name on a less-than-assuring
pre-order list probably won't be necessary here.
[Thanks, Clint]
posted Oct 17th 2006 10:55AM
No, Wine would not work as this is on a Cell processor, not an Intel or AMD processor.
I hope they will eventually make an ubuntu port. That would make the ps3 well worth its money as a computer.
I don't see them actually opening up a whole operating system for the PS3 and allowing users to run the console as a computer. It just opens them up to too much risk with pirated software. I guess Linux will be the foundation of the cross media bar applications which means they could quickly develop software as well as potential third party plugins for the system.
As well as some hacks to convert it into a PC workalike. Linux is very expandable in that aspect.
Actually, they've done it once before with the Linux kit for PS2. That upgrade didn't cause any serious increase in pirated games. It also had all of the API documentation except for the API for the chip that handled the copy protection...
Don't expect much from Sony. They pulled this trick on the PS2 and the PSP as well. Once they've reeled the suckers in they'll upgrade the firmware and make them suffer.
Sony does not support freeware. They just like to pretend they do.
"Sony does not support freeware. They just like to pretend they do."
Umm, yes they do and have been doing it for some time now. My Sony Grand Wega (made in Dec 2005) runs portions of the Linux kernel.
Check out Sony's site for more info
http://www.sony.com/Linux
...Carry on.
YDL is better than Ubuntu :)
Cause it's Redhat based, and doesn't have apt.
Ubuntu would be better if it wasn't Debian based...
This is true, at least on PPC. Maybe on Intel Ubuntu is better than Fedora, I do not know, but on PPC Yellow Dog Linux had Ubuntu licked!
Could someone please explain what potential benefits this could bring to a PS3 owner? What's this going to let me do?
It will let you use your Sony PS3 like a Power PC.
If this is as function as all the nerds hope it is.. the PS3 could actually be a very cool system.
Still, I don't think it'll be usefull to 99% of the people who buy a PS3.
> "featuring E17"
Are the guys real? Are they really running http://www.enlightenment.org/ release 17?? I already want one... :-/
I wonder would it look anything good like that shot: http://enlightenment.sourceforge.net/Enlightenment/Screenshots/DR17_User_Screenshots/_images/screenshot2.png
The cross media bar would be different from the Linux OS. Personally I think Sony will try a bit harder this time around than they did with the PS2. I'd imagine that with the Linux OS you will be able to open up the PS3 to your home network and be able to stream media from other computers on the network just like the 360 does with media center PC's.
"It just opens them up to too much risk with pirated software."
It doesn't really. Linux on PS2 didn't help the piracy effort on PS2 at all. The reason being, you have to hack the main OS that actually plays the game, which is completely seperate from Linux. You can hack Linux all you want, but it won't get you anywhere with regards to the main OS. You won't be able to create code to run under the main OS to take advantage of security holes in it, either (that code will run under the Linux distro, not the XMB OS). Your best bet for exploiting holes in the main OS will still be stuff like dodgy save files in games etc.
Oh, and the possibilities are much greater than just streaming media from other computers. In fact, it potentially will allow PS3 to be an ideal media centre and server itself. Think of XBMC, but for HD media. Think also of homebrew. The point is you can do whatever you want, aslong as you or the community makes it happen.
Here is a screenshot: http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/ydl/e17/
If the Linux OS is truly useful it will have one economic affect on the PS3 console pricing, they can no longer "give away" the hardware at cost if a significant portion of the purchasers never buy any games titles.
Not likely to happen, but if 20-30% of PS3 purchasers fall into this non-gamer category, look for a price increase on the hardware.
1) You're assuming that those 20-30% aren't additional hardware sales. These individuals wouldn't have purchased the hardware without these features, otherwise they will still buy software.
2) We don't know to what extent the OS is locked to outside software installation. Sony could potentially close the hardware to installing from outside Sony purchased software. For example, they could let you download Sony software at some cost from the Playstation network. Any independent developers would have to be approved through some process and distribute their software through the network as well. This essentially becomes a Itunes for the homebrew community (which may be a happy medium for the homebrew community and Sony).
Robotron is 100% Correct - "Sony does not support freeware. They just like to pretend they do."
I've known this for months. If you go to the Yellow dog linux website (terrasoft(somthing)....com, they have post where they say that they have been working with Sony on the CELL for their next linux. And since the only thing with the CELL is the PS3 then I suppose it was obvious.
This is EXTREMELY promising:
http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/pipermail/yellowdog-general/2006-October/020714.html
-snip-
Under basic agreement with SCEI, Terra Soft was granted a unique opportunity
to develop and bring to market a complete Linux OS for the Sony PLAYSTATION
3. In development of Yellow Dog Linux v5.0, Terra Soft integrated and
enhanced code from Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Sony Group, and Fedora in
order to offer the following:
- kernel 2.6.16
- gcc 3.4.4 and glibc 2.4
- Cell SDK 1.1
- OpenOffice.org 2.0.2
- FireFox 1.5.0 and Thunderbird 1.5.0
- Nautilus 2.1.4
... and a suite of Personal Accessories, Development Tools; Sound & Video,
Internet, and Networking applications.
-snip-
GCC? Cell SDK? HOMEBREW!
Between the browser and adding some Linux support . . . how long till someone bricks a bunch of consoles with a virus, hacks someone's Sony Wallet and empties it and generally makes high holy hell for folks not wanting to play griefers online?
to Jameyt: Linux is not Windows. Viruses aren't really a problem in Linux.
I think this is very exciting, and soon PS3 will be the ultimate multimedia PC. I can't wait for the Linux community to get their hands on it and PIMP it out.
Actually, it would have been funny as hell if sony chose OSX as the OS, just think, the first mac OS with more than 3 games!
Actually, IBM already has a server blade outfitted with Cell. It runs Linux Fedora Core5:
http://www-306.ibm.com/common/ssi/OIX.wss?DocURL=http://d03xhttpcl001g.boulder.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/7/897/ENUS106-677/index.html&InfoType=AN&InfoSubType=CA&InfoDesc=Announcement+Letters&panelurl=&paneltext=
JET
1/2 news 1/2 sony bashing. Leave that crap out for gods sake. This article wasn't supposed to be about the scarecity of the PS3.
I am interested to see how this turns out. I am not planning to buy the PS3 until it is more in line with 360 pricing (I am not gonna play extra just cause Sony wants to cram BluRay down my throat, I want a game system, not a HD movie player). However, if this is a full featured Linux OS... I may buy one afterall. But that sounds like an extremely risky proposition for Sony. Linux is all about freeware. No license fees for Sony. Emulators for PS2/1, so why buy PS2/1 games from they Playstation Network. They may sell more console because of it, but less of everything else. The are releasing the PS3 with features people had to hack the Xbox to get. If they made a profit from the hardware, that would be great. Maybe I am wrong, but that seems like an exceedingly bad thing in their situation. I predict the worst attach rate of any new console for PS3.
"Actually, it would have been funny as hell if sony chose OSX as the OS, just think, the first mac OS with more than 3 games!"
I know you where probably being sarcastic but Mac OS does have more than 3 games, and rising. But anyway it's not a matter of what Sony chose rather I don't think Apple is willing to license. In fact this is more a matter of this company stepping forward and offering.
"Linux is all about freeware. No license fees for Sony. Emulators for PS2/1, so why buy PS2/1 games from they Playstation Network."
The first part may be true but as for the last part. Just because it's running Linux it doesn't make freeware emulators especially for newer consoles automatic. Emulators are one of the most hardware bound software I know of and most are written for and optimized for x86. Not to mention the fact that there is no good PS2 emulator yet. Even if you could just download the source of an emulator and compile it easily and have it "just work" most people wouldn't want to go through the hassle of downloading a base emulator and a bunch of plugins and setting them all up.. they'd probably rather pay the 5-10 bucks to get the game through Sony's service.
you know, they most likely aren't talking about OSX, rather Darwin. think about it. osx is a full-on graphical environment designed toward everything you might want to do.. linux on the other hand is more akin to Darwin... which is open to them.
Finally more and more information is releasing and people may actually see the PS3's worth. I still can't say anything past this information but someday you'll all see the true potential, trust me, installing Linux is just a drop of what's coming as official features from Sony.
I actually think the main reason Sony went after homebrew was because of the ISO loaders. Had they not appeared so quickly they might have not been so harsh.
How could they consider OS X if Apple doesn't license it to anyone. Ever.
Wait, so you mean we could fold on the ps3?!?! And use it like a normal computer!
VMware here I come XD
Oh man, I might actually have to get one now, althoug I am probably going to have to wait a few years until the prices drop to a somewhat resonable level...
Does this mean that since game developers will have a full on linux OS at their disposal that we might not see them start developing for linux too?
Might be nice, just food for thought.