Gentoo Ported to PS2

kerneljacabo writes "In what is yet another testament to the flexibility of the Gentoo platform, it has been ported to the PS2. It is still in the early stages but more information can be found here."

Comments

details?

[anthonyclark]

Can someone explain to me how the ps2 runs linux? I remember an article a while back saying linux runs in some kind of virtual machine or sandboxed application.

And furthermore, why is gentoo on ps2 special? (apart from the benefits of emerge et al)

NetBSD

[grub]

NetBSD runs on the PS2 and has for some time. Too bad it's dying. ;)

It's ideal for the process.

[Future Man 3000]

Given the methodology of Gentoo's packaging system, I'm not surprised that it's the first mainstream Linux distribution that's making it over to the PS2. Compiling the whole system from source on-the-fly isn't just for optimization purposes.

Not that the process would be any fun on the platform, of course -- I imagine glibc being an overnight compile, for example -- but it does testify to the strength of the source distribution system's portability.

Re:It was just a matter of time...

[Sexy Commando]

Don't know how to say it... Yes Linux is flexible, but not in the sense of porting a distro to another platform, becasue if a distro is ported, it's not the same distro anymore. Redhat can just build a dstro from scratch on PS2 and still call it Redhat Linux.

Gentoo is a "meta-distro," which can be put on top of many UNIX-like systems. The Gentoo Linux we often hear can be percieved as the "reference distro" of the Gentoo meta-distro system.

Heck, there's even Gentoo for cygwin and OSX

Can we get a Gentoo topic icon already?

[Chuck Bucket]

Here's the one I'm using, /. has topic icons for RedHat/Mandrake/Debian/Corel(?)/etc - please add one for Gentoo. Thanks in advance.

CB

PS2 Porting is a great idea

[Dark Paladin]

Just take a look at this vision:

You already own a PS2 as "Joe Homeguy". You could go out and buy a new computer, but the guy at the store says "Well, just buy this Hard Drive upgrade for $200 for your PS2, and stick in this CD with Linux on it, and off you go".

So you take it home, and do that. You can surf the web, get your email, write up documents, and you're good. Want to play your games? Just shut it off (and you don't know it's using a journaled filesystem, so all of your files aren't ruined - and besides, it just stores the data on the hard drive, the OS "lives" on the CD you stick in).

Remove the Linux CD, stick in Metal Gear Solid 3/Kingdom Hearts/Disgaea (which is probably one of the best games this year) - and you're playing. You can even play online with the Broadband adapter in the back if you want.

Want to use the TV? No problem. You don't worry about upgrades - when the Linux Service, they send you a new disk every month, and it only costs $10 a year, and it includes demos of new games. Just stick in the disk, and you can do more 'stuff'.

This is the kind of thing that Linux in the home could be great for. And since there are 60,000,000 PS2's in the world, all with 99% similiar hardware, the Linux distribution wouldn't worry too much about compatibility - if you want something else to work, like a USB hard drive or a USB keychain storage media to transmit files between work/home (or that stores your basic settings, so you could go to a friends house and use their "computer" - I mean, PS2 to check your mail and 'stuff' if you like.

So I'd say Linux on the PS2 is just as important as working to make Gnome and KDE better. It gives a possible leverage that could avoid the desktop computer monopoly, by bypassing it altogether

Re:PS2 Porting is a great idea

[Yaztromo]

You already own a PS2 as "Joe Homeguy". You could go out and buy a new computer, but the guy at the store says "Well, just buy this Hard Drive upgrade for $200 for your PS2, and stick in this CD with Linux on it, and off you go".

Linux for the PS2 also extends the useful lifetime of the console hardware.

I own the PS2 Linux kit. Admittedly, I don't boot up into it terribly often (I have two other Linux boxes here to work on as well), but it's all installed and setup.

However, as we all know, consoles eventually hit an "end-of-life" after 4 or 5 years, when Sony releases their next console and everyone starts developing for it instead. How many old PS1's are there out there sitting in closets and garages because the gamer of the house now owns a PS2 and no longer needs it?

Linux extends this useful lifetime. When the PS3 does come out, I don't have to relegate my PS2 to the closet. It's already running Linux. I can simply put it into a closet and let it run a mail server, a file server, a media server (having the digital optical audio out on it makes it a lovely Ogg Vorbis/MP3 jukebox), or any one of a number of other useful tasks.

Yaz.