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IBM Gets AS/400 Running On PlayStation

Posted by simoniker on from the what-in-the-world? dept.

TomPee writes "Hackers may have oiled the rails for Linux fans eager to run their favourite Penguin-fronted operating system on Xbox, but that's nothing compared to IBM's latest in-house project, according to Gamesindustry.biz: running the AS/400 enterprise operating system on a humble PlayStation. Now I'm only wondering: what will be the practical use of this ?" According to another account from News.com.au, which non-specifically mentions 'PlayStation', it may be that IBM are working on the PS2, and not the PSOne, as the newer article claims.

38 comments

  1. Is this by CableModemSniper · · Score: 1

    the answer?

    --
    Why not fork?
    1. Re:Is this by keesh · · Score: 1

      No, because an AS/400 isn't a mainframe.

    2. Re:Is this by CableModemSniper · · Score: 1

      I know, it was a joke.

      --
      Why not fork?
    3. Re:Is this by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 3, Informative
      AS/400 is the HARDWARE.

      The reporter was a console-guy, so he can be forgiven. What IBM has done is get the OS/400 Operating System ported.

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
  2. In other news by nelsonal · · Score: 4, Funny

    This morning officials from NetBSD has announced a port for the emulated AS/400 on PS2 hardware.

    --
    Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
    1. Re:In other news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In other other news, IBM will port AIX to the X-Box and just to piss off SCO will release the source code under the GPL.

  3. Perhaps a real use. by shadwwulf · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This reminds me of this a previous Slashdot post.

    Perhaps now the whackjobs of the world will have a reason to stockpile consoles other than needing their fix of Final Fantasy.

    Just a thought...

  4. Nice2Cats, look up! by pmz · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Now, you have a way to get your sought-after experience!

    --
    Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
  5. wait... by kevin+lyda · · Score: 4, Funny

    ok, first ibm support linux. then they port as/400 to the playstation. meanwhile sun is pissing on linux in cowardly ways.

    ibm is supposed to be full of boring suits. sun is supposed to have the hackers. it was all so much simpler back in 1993, what went wrong?

    --
    US Citizen living abroad? Register to vote!
    1. Re:wait... by IM6100 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's not that complex:

      The boring suits have decided to commercialize on 'the hackers' and therefore have adopted sort of a 'cool' sheen. The hackers at Sun are getting ever closer to retirement, plus they don't take software that runs on unreliable cheap PeeCee hardware** very seriously. Plus, Linux threatens a hell of a lot of cool technology in Sun's Solaris flagship, Linux is still sort of an enhanced MS_DOS compared to Solaris.

      (** This is a point worth considering. I, personally have been getting more and more involved with classic Sun Sparc hardware. There's just no comparison in, say, the incredible at-all-levels-refined engineering in the SparcStation 5 and the kind of 'stamp out crap, but do it expensively to impress the suits' engineering that went into even the most expensive servers from Compaq.)

      --
      A Good Intro to NetBS
  6. Woohoo! by TheSHAD0W · · Score: 4, Funny

    We C0B0L programmers aren't obsolete after all!

    1. Re:Woohoo! by AS400+Hacker · · Score: 1

      95% of AS/400 programming is in RPG so you're still obsolete.

    2. Re:Woohoo! by corkhead0 · · Score: 0
      Oddly enough, the quote at the bottom of the page:
      COBOL: Completely Over and Beyond reason Or Logic
  7. Big deal by AtariAmarok · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wake me up when you can my Gameboy to emulate a Cray. :)

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  8. How about PS2 on PS2? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    How about getting an IBM PS2 to run Sony PS2 games? Now that is the challenge.

  9. The beginning... by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Wh--yes, sir? No, no--I mean, yes, very busy, sir! Very busy indeed! That box? It's a--well, yes, it is a PlayStation, sir. Oh, I see, your son has one, that's, uh, nice...yes...well, it's...it's a...a test machine! Yes! You see, I'm porting...uh...AS/400 to it (shut up, Bob...) because...um...think of all the young kids we could get hooked on AS/400 programming, sir! (Shut up, Bob...)"

    "...sir? No, it's just me and Bob here, a sort of pet project we like to work on every now and...you...you what?...Sir, that's...you're giving us how many people to work on this?"

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

  10. The Register link by $exyNerdie · · Score: 3, Informative

    IBM gets AS/400 running on PSone

  11. Why this project exists by regen · · Score: 4, Funny

    What happened was an exec at IBM told the techies to get OS/400 runing on a PS/2. The techies misunderstood and thought he meant the PS2. The rest is history.

    --
    The Economics of Website Security
  12. Conversation with IBM sales by MarkGriz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Customer: Hi, I'm interested in licensing AS/400 for my Fortune 500 company.
    IBM: Yes, sir. What server are you looking at to run it? We have a great deal on our iSeries 890 midrange systems, starting at about $350,000.
    Customer: Oh, no thanks. I just picked up a Playstation at a yard sale for 20 bucks.

    --
    Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
  13. Way to Milk that Press Release by ubergoober · · Score: 0
    Its one thing to post an article, but to post the exact same one from three different sources?


    It'd be nice to get more than a different advertisement from supplementary links.

    --
    * Making waffles just so I have something to Twitter *
  14. Are some big companies gearing up to take on MS by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 3, Insightful
    • IBM supports linux, a direct competitor to MS on low-end servers and maybe in the future on the desktop
    • Sony releases a linux version for the PS2
    • All the big japanese electronics firms work together on a linux project
    • IBM puts their mainframe software, a very stready earner on PS.
    • IBM and sony work together on PS3
    • IBM delivers the chips for apple
    • Apple uses BSD
    • ?????? Of course all of this doesn't have to mean a thing, but if you want you can read into this a serious contented to the Wintel domination.

      A living room systeem designed by Sony, on IBM hardware with the solidity of AS/400 (mainframes did things in reliabilty and security we can only dream of in our so called modern OSes) and the openess of linux. Perhaps even taken a few UI lessons from Apple? I would buy one that is for sure.

      Oh well a guy can dream can't he?

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:Are some big companies gearing up to take on MS by IM6100 · · Score: 1

      There isn't a 'Wintel domination' in the high end server space to take on.

      Microsoft is trying to scale up to the kind of installation that an AS/400 mini/mainframe operates in, but they're really reaching to attain that.

      Really, the whole computing industry isn't dominated by Microsoft. Certain segments are, to be certain. Definitely not the one that AS/400 is part of.

      --
      A Good Intro to NetBS
    2. Re:Are some big companies gearing up to take on MS by Kris_J · · Score: 1

      "Wintel" is catchy, but inaccurate. Microsoft has a monopoly more because of Office than Windows and Intel, well, of all the computers I have at home only one has an Intel CPU and that's an old 266MMX.

  15. Linux Kit Is Good For Something! by gooru · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Oooh! Maybe I'll finally do something useful with my PlayStation Linux Kit! Or, maybe it was just $200 down the drain, so I could compile Mozilla.

    1. Re:Linux Kit Is Good For Something! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't compile Mozilla with a PS2 Linux kit--not without some serious hacking, at least. Try it. It's not fun.

    2. Re:Linux Kit Is Good For Something! by gooru · · Score: 1

      Um, frankly, you're wrong. All you need to do is download the mozilla source, configure, and compile. Try it yourself if you have a Linux kit. Took maybe half an hour.

      Adding GAIM to the mix took a few more minutes.

      I think my real point was that I feel that my time spent playing around with my Linux kit was more or less a waste of time and money.

  16. Why not GameCube? by Schnapple · · Score: 1

    Why PSAnything? Why not GameCube? I mean, IBM already supplied some of the technology for it...

    --

    Schnapple

  17. No more Interruptions! by slusich · · Score: 1

    Does this mean I won't have to quit playing GTA when a user calls me from work with printer message?

    --

    DeviantArt Page

    NSFW
  18. IBM's secret plan to take over the world. by DavidBrown · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Given that OS/400 is usually found on enterprise servers, and - with apologies to Al Yankovich - about as useful to gamers as JPEGs to Helen Keller, the project is never likely to make it out of the Rochester lab, but has been undertaken anyway as part of research associated with IBM's "CELL" project - jointly underway with Toshiba and Sony to develop processors for entertainment applications. (from the article).

    Maybe the idea here is that IBM is working on a robust OS and networking system and maybe the hardware for use in future Sony platforms (PS3, anyone?) and has done this as a demonstration of what they can do. If they can make it work with the PSOne, they can make it work with anything.

    It's kind of karmic, the PS3 also being the PS/3 and all.

    --
    144l. ph34r my 133t l3g4l 5k1lz!
  19. Are we sure it's not a PS/2? by IM6100 · · Score: 1

    Are we sure they aren't talking about an IBM PS/2 system?

    The PS/2 Model 80 was a reasonably powerful system in it's time.

    The whole irony in this discussion is that some of us, probably those who don't buy retail console game toys, have had a problem with confusing PS2 as standing for the old IBM PS/2 hardware line. Now even IBM themselves are adding to the confusion.

    --
    A Good Intro to NetBS
  20. Its OS/400 by mnmn · · Score: 1


    The AS/400 refers to either the hardware or the whole architecture of hardware+software.

    Now if IBM releases this software and supports it making it commercially viable, companies with old ERP systems will have to hire younger employees to run their application servers on PS2. They will have a hard time keeping them away from the machines after work. The uptimes will always be less than 12 hours.

    --
    "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
  21. In the name of God, why? by TwistedKestrel · · Score: 2, Funny

    Imagine someone writing games for OS/400 on this:

    PLYGM *PLYR(PLYR1) *GM(MGS3)

    (It's been a while, my 'syntax' could be wrong)

    What really scares me is *if* IBM decided to let people play around with this OS/400, and the general geek public started playing around with it, we'd have a whole new perversion of the english language, a million times worse than l337 speak.

    Example:

    LTGMR1: HY, HW R Y DNG?
    CLGY: NT T BD, Y?
    LTGMR1: I JST GT LTMA MCM TDY, T KCKS SS

    Do you have any idea of what they're saying? Neither will you!

    1. Re:In the name of God, why? by AS400+Hacker · · Score: 1

      that's pretty close. usually commands are composed of 3, 3-letter parts. (i.e. WRKACTJOB = WoRK ACTive JOBs), but not always. But there is never an asterick in front of the parameter name, sometimes the value has one, if it's a system default. PLYGAM PLYR(*PLYR1) GAME('GTAIII') CHEATS(*OFF)

  22. Wow by glenstar · · Score: 1

    Cool! Now I can finally release that JCL version of Wolfenstein I have been working on!

  23. Commands for those not "in the know" by blazin · · Score: 1

    WRKACTJOB - up, down, triangle, square
    WRKSYSSTS - up, up, up, circle, down
    WRKMBRPDM - left, down, right, up

    30 extra lives - up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B*, A*, start.

    * - please substitute playstation equivalent for B and A.

  24. Not /.ed by wolrahnaes · · Score: 1

    Hmm.....something is not right.......

    I know what it is! Someone got an old piece of hardware to run some other OS and no one posted a link! We can't slashdot the playstation without a link!

    Damn i'm bored.....

    --
    I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
  25. Why this is interesting by drinkypoo · · Score: 1
    AS/400 systems now run on POWER series processors. Once upon a time, they ran with their own custom chips. Binaries from the systems from the WAY back will run on the new ones, and vice versa. OS/400 also has a number of VERY sexy features such as being able to link object modules from multiple languages into one binary. That means you can write applications which use any language available on the system.

    The fact that they have ported OS/400 to POWER and now to MIPS R3000 (It's running on the PSOne and not the PS2) is pretty impressive given the hardware characteristics of the original AS/400 systems. Anyway CELL will be much more useful if systems based on it share some characteristics of OS/400 and/or AS/400 (wow look at all those slashes) such as the complete hardware independence and amazing back-compatibility. Not to mention the stability...

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  26. very last post, i suck by muirhead · · Score: 1

    Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins, Grumpy Watkins,