PostgreSQL Ported to GameCube, Linux Progressing

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PostgreSQL Ported to GameCube, Linux Progressing

Posted by simoniker on Saturday March 6, 2004 @11:24PM from the mega-geek dept.

TheFuzzy writes "Hey folks, thought you'd like to know that the guys at Cybertec.at have succeeded in porting PostgreSQL 7.4.1 to the Nintendo GameCube. Now you, too, can turn your former video console into the world's most underpowered database server. And before anyone asks... the Windows port is coming real soon now, so be patient - it says something that the GameCube was easier to convert to than Windows, don't it?" Elsewhere in GameCube homebrew development, it looks like the GameCube Linux project is moving along quite swiftly, with "a 22 MB Debian base system image" now available, and an "ARAM block device driver" also created, now allowing 40mb of space for Linux to run in.

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Cant Wait by Robmonster · 2004-02-13 00:45 · Score: 3, Interesting

I loved the first 2 Thief games on the PC. They inspired the current generation of Sneak-em-ups.

I am waiting for the demo!

RM

--
I have no sig yet I must scream.
Use this handy tool to save time here! by superultra · 2004-02-13 01:17 · Score: 5, Funny

Ok, while the posting is sparse here, allow me to save everyone some precious time. Just adjust the variables and you'll be good to post. I make no promises but I'm customized the options so as for you to, perhaps, score a nice 4 slab of that karma we're all talking about oh yeah. So here goes:

Did you see [that article, thosescreenshots]?!? Obviously Warrn Spector has lost it. I played and finished [Deus Ex, Thief 1 & 2, System Shock 1 & 2, and Ultima Underworld, all of the above] at least [seven, eight] times the day the game came out, and this is so far from his original vision that he's lost control of his own company. Ok, ok, the graphics are good, but the game runs like ice cream melting in [Alaska, Antarctica] on my [twin processor gold plated 3.2 pentiums, IBM PS/2, Dreamcast running bedian off a burned ISO, Mac]. This whole [transition to third person, revised weapons system, checkpoints, lack of a 255 key controller] just means they are sharing the [pocket protector, pants, mouth] of Bill Gates with an Xbox. Just because [there's more money to be had in consoles, consoles don't have the same customer support issues as PCs, consoles are getting the majority of creative games these days, there's more money to be had in consoles, more people play their consoles for games than PCs, there's more money to be had in consoles] doesn't emean that they should abandon the peeps who got them there.

I've had it up to [here, here, here]. At least we still have [Half-Life 2, Doom III, Team Fortress 2, Duke Nukem Forever, Tycoon games, Mythica] and they're staying true to the cause. So, screw you [Warren Spector, Ion Storm, $icro$soft]! I'm not even going to buy Thief III, I'll just [pirate it, borrow it from a friend, make my own damn Thief game]. PC [ROXOR, KIXASS] [!!!!!, !!!!, !!!!!!]
1. Re:Use this handy tool to save time here! by imr · 2004-02-13 01:24 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It's not funny, it's true.
  I know such a fan, and he was genuinly disappointed by deus ex2 look and feel on the pc. He wasnt a ms or console basher until that game but became one immediatly. And when he heard about thief 3 being 3rd person view, the sadness in his eyes!
  It's always hard to be betrayed by those you respect the more.
  Come on, those games are about immersion! You can't have a feeling of immersion following a puppet from above!
2. Re:Use this handy tool to save time here! by analog_line · 2004-02-13 02:05 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Well, it's not especially funny, because it merely stokes the hordes of mindless people who froth at the mouth over console games. It's stupid to get wrapped up in a franchise so much that when it goes a different direction, you get enraged.
  
  Me, I didn't like Deus Ex 1, so I wasn't going to be buying Deus Ex 2 in any case. I have played and enjoyed Thief 1 and 2 a lot (like, two of my favorite games ever), and the previews for Thief 3 haven't yet convinced me to buy it. I may download a demo, but I don't know if I even want to bother wasting the bandwidth on that. If I don't like it, I'll buy something else. People who steal games they claim to not like confuse me. If you don't like it, why in the world do you bother wasting disk space on it?
3. Re:Use this handy tool to save time here! by AllUsernamesAreGone · 2004-02-13 02:40 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  It's stupid to get wrapped up in a franchise so much that when it goes a different direction, you get enraged.
  
  I'd agree in general, but Thief is a little.. different. Part of the point behind it was to get the player wrapped up in it: a lot of its atmosphere depended on it. And it worked, it worked so well that when LGS died the community mourned but carried on. Not only are there still a large number of people making missions for it, in many cases of better quality than the original missions, and several immensely ambitious projects are effectively creating new Thief games in the Dark engine. The fans of the game know how it works, what makes it work well and how to improve the game to make the final part of the trilogy the best of the series. These are people who know Thief as well or better than most, if not all, of the team working on T3. If T3 ends up in the same mess as DX2, with dodgy graphics quality, painful framerate, tiny areas, rediculous level mechanics and all the other criticisms that were leveled at Dx2 (and, so far, very little has been released that would seem to suggest it won't) there will be a lot of very angry Thief fans, because that wouldn't be taking the franchise in a different direction, it would be gutting it.
4. Re:Use this handy tool to save time here! by analog_line · 2004-02-13 03:52 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I don't argue any of that. I'm EXTREMELY dubious about the new Thief, and frankly, I have been ever since Looking Glass went away, but I can still keep playing the old stuff and just not bother with Thief 3. Voting with my wallet.
  
  I still play Thief 1 and 2 pretty regularly, and if people just make more missions for it, I don't see, in the end, a real problem. Sure I'd like to have a better graphicsed version of 1 and 2, but I'll still take what I have with people making new stuff for it. Hell, I've played Half Life mods for as long as I've played Thief. Nothing wrong with that. Yeah, I'll be angry if the new one sucks, but angry isn't near the kind of bile that people lately seem to be heaping on stuff lately. They didn't slit your brother's throat, they made a crappy sequel.
5. Re:Use this handy tool to save time here! by imr · 2004-02-13 04:14 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  The person I talk about is nowhere a mindless person. His speech is really very close to yours.
  It's just that it's not its favorite game. It's his favorite genre, the last game of this genre and the creator of the best games of the genre, all going to the toilets together, because one has to design his games for the console first, now, period.
  And on top of that, he has to listen to this designer telling him, like "straight in the eyes", that no, the console gameplay doesnt impact on the game, it works well.
  So, yes he has become a console hater and a ms one too, because he feels that the games were designed for the xbox (i don't know if there any rationale behind this point, tho'), but not in a mindless way. More in a cold, resolute way. Sometimes, it takes small, apparently meaningless events to make you realize bigger pictures. Like, couldnt the console market kill the pc games?
  This one is sure it can.
6. Re:Use this handy tool to save time here! by analog_line · 2004-02-13 06:00 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I dunno, I kind of look at it like Highlander fans tend to look at Highlander 2 and 3. If you hate the story, just ignore it. No one says you have to buy it or even acknowledge it exists. The console gaming market didn't turn Deus Ex 2 into a steaming crapfest. The people who decided that it should be for console primarily did.
  
  Microsoft I have no problem hating. I'm sure they're part of the problem here. I was furious at Microsoft for buying off Sega to screw over Dreamcast owners on the US release of Shenmue 2 by making it an Xbox exclusive. Ditto on Jet Set Radio Future. Eidos/Ion Storm are the ones calling the shots here, and they're the ones that deserve the derision, not consoles in general. Hell, I'm working to wean myself off of PC gaming because I'm working to wean myself off of Microsoft products altogether, 'cause you can't play PC games on anything but Windows. WineX doesn't work enough for me, so the only thing left is consoles.
7. Re:Use this handy tool to save time here! by blincoln · 2004-02-13 07:43 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  It's his favorite genre, the last game of this genre and the creator of the best games of the genre, all going to the toilets together, because one has to design his games for the console first, now, period.
  
  I see this same attitude with *my* favourite series (see sig), and I still don't understand it.
  
  How is a game designed for a PC instead of a console allegedly superior? Is it the ton of unnecessary control options? The ability to play with a keyboard and mouse? The possibility of bragging to your friends about how your $400 video card gives you 5 more fps?
  
  Part of the reason I switched to console games is that I vastly prefer the more straightforward control schemes (I hate the keyboard + mouse combination) and knowing that if I buy a game for any of my systems, I don't need to worry about whether or not it will run.
  
  The *only* possible advantage I see to PC gaming over consoles is the ability to mod games, and none of the games I'm interested in support that anyway.
  
  --
  "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
Warren Spector claimed DXIW would translate well by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-13 02:10 · Score: 2, Insightful

I think this is just damage control, as Thief III was in development before the DXIW hit the fan, as it were.

I guarantee Thief III has Xbox-sized maps in the PC version, and just like DXIW I guarantee that it will ruin the game.
Not me... by BadmanX · 2004-02-13 02:42 · Score: 4, Interesting

They got me with DX:IW - I bought it at full price even after playing the demo and seeing the drastic changes they made to the game, in the hopes that there would still be something there. Ten hours later, I finished the game, watched all the endings, and uninstalled it. The experience was thoroughly mediocre. The odds are very good I'll never play that game again.

Thief: Deadly Shadows is using the exact same engine and was designed in the exact same way - as an Xbox game first. It's going to suffer from the same problems DX:IW did - small areas, limited interaction, difficult to use interface. And what the hell was wrong with the name Thief III?

Fool me twice, shame on me.
1. Re:Not me... by mahdi13 · 2004-02-13 06:48 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  DX:IW wasn't a terrible game, but it was not nearly as good as it could of been. There were times that were edge of the seat tension, but most if it was pretty laid back.
  
  The frame rate sucked. But it didn't kill the game
  The Levels were tiny, very clausterphobic inducing, but it didn't kill the game
  Interface was very awkward, but it didn't kill the game
  What did kill the game was that it took a total of 10 hours to complete and was very easy (in terms of puzzle solving...were there any?)
  
  I'm hoping that with Thief III, they can optimize the engine, make larger maps and make better use of the engine in general.
  
  And Liberty Island at the end of DXIW was a joke, 4 seperate maps for what a 5 year old engine did with one map
  
  --
  "Some things have to be believed to be seen." - Ralph Hodgson
2. Re:Not me... by *weasel · 2004-02-13 07:32 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  it played fine on my xbox. not to troll, but it isn't the console market's fault if the developer shows preference. rail at the game, that's fine - but when people try to take the argument to the philosophical side (consoles suck, they shouldn't have released for the consoles, etc, etc) they just end up sounding like loons..
  
  the complaint that translates from console to PC equally is the tiny tiny 'maps'. If there were too many interactive objects in each map - then for chrissakes just make some boxes or pews static, drop some polygons, lower particle count - something.
  
  aside from the maps i thought it was pretty standard Spector-type stuff. *Although if they plan on railroading all the possible story 'branches' back to the same core events, maybe they should just remove them? If there's no functional difference between choices, they are false choices.
  
  You'd think a company who defined the terminology for exactly such a behavior would recognize it.
  
  --
  // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
worried - PC and Xbox games suffer by osejw · 2004-02-13 06:31 · Score: 3, Interesting

Really liked Thief 1 and 2 and DeusEx. I heard all these good things about the Xbox Halo, tried it for the first time on PC and it was mediocre at best. Poor graphics and poor frame rate. The same textures over and over again, the same rooms over and over again. I am not hearing good things about DeusExIW ... but I have not tried it yet. XBox+PC games seem to inherit the problems of each platform and lack any benefits one could releaize if the game was developed for a single platform. Just some thoughts ... I really hope Thief III is a great game but I will likely wait for the reviews.
Life of the Party by happyhippy · 2004-02-13 07:54 · Score: 3, Informative

If the levels are smaller (no loads needed) than Thief 2's brilliant level 'Life of the Party' the game is going to suck shit. Fuck you and your load mist.
Whaaaaa? by Black+Hitler · 2004-02-13 15:56 · Score: 2, Insightful

We watched as Garrett carefully avoided the gate guards and downed one of them with an arrow to the head; then he finished off the others.
What the hell? Does Garrett have super-powers now? Finishing off one guard out of a group was hard enough in parts 1 and 2, never mind taking out the whole bunch at once.
1. Re:Whaaaaa? by Lathan · 2004-02-13 18:14 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  It's not all that impossible. One arrow takes the first guard, but the rest get suspicious. Then it's about three more arrows per guard since they're looking. If you're out of the way (preferably vertically) enough, they won't be able to get you. In Thief 2, I evaded a bunch of guards by climbing up a rope and just hanging there right above their heads. They never looked up.
2. Re:Whaaaaa? by happyhippy · 2004-02-14 03:50 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  They never follow you up ropes. They do see you and they do stand at the bottom going 'Come down Taffer!' and shake their fists.
  Its not shitty AI, its prob the shitty graphics that prevents them from climbing ropes.
Why? by skermit · 2004-03-06 23:26 · Score: 2, Insightful

I don't see ANY possible use for this other than to earn geek points to spent at the next LARPG meeting...

--
-Christopher Wu
http://www.christopherwu.net/
1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-06 23:56 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Bacause XBox and PS2 DON'T have PostgreSQL.
  
  That's why... muahahahaha... let the fanboy flamewars begin...
2. Re:Why? by torpor · 2004-03-07 01:44 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  dude, the gamecube is a $99 computing device. it is about on par with the $20,000 computing device i once had to use, in the 80's, in terms of processing power and capabilities.
  
  why -shouldn't- this be done?
  
  i never had a reason to get into game consoles before, but now that i can build a $150 database server and stick it on my network, i've got a whole new platform for the home, knowing that the hardware is pretty much rock-solid, dependable.
  
  PC's might be 'better', but you can't beat game-console economics when it comes to computing ...
  
  --
  ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
3. Re:Why? by damiam · 2004-03-07 02:08 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  XBox, being a regular x86 system, has just about any DB you want to throw on it, including Postgres, MySQL, Firebird, DB2, and even Oracle.
  
  --
  It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
4. Re:Why? by BW_Nuprin · 2004-03-07 03:55 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Well, I'm excited about the possibility of using the Gamecube's very good TV output to watch my TV show DivX's on. I have a dedicated computer for it in the living room, but its TV-out port is very touchy, and doesn't look very good anyway.
5. Re:Why? by rtaylor · 2004-03-07 04:15 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Granted there isn't much use, but there is some.
  
  The PostgreSQL port to the PS2 (quite a while back) made a performance issue on certain platforms very obvious. I believe as a result the Itanium port recieved a bit of a speed boost (common issue).
  
  Simply put, looking at something from a new angle doesn't hurt any of the currently existing platforms, and often it will help.
  
  It's the same reason many developers like to use more than one compiler. One will sometimes warn about things the other doesn't catch.
  
  --
  Rod Taylor
6. Re:Why? by antime · 2004-03-07 06:19 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Dude, unless you plan on storing your whole database in RAM or on a memory card there's very little point in using the Cube as a database server. The machine's network connection is also limited (by the bus the NIC is connected to) so its use even as a frontend is questionable. Hack value, but not any practical value.
7. Re:Why? by antime · 2004-03-07 08:05 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  If you read the announcement you probably noticed that even the people who did the port aren't too serious about it, because it's just too damn slow. Right tools for the right job etc.
  The big steps forward have been the exploitation of the PSO update mechanism to boot selfmade code and the reverse-engineering of the hardware that made the Linux port possible. Compiling a software package after that is mostly an excercise in masochism but nothing insanelygreat.
  So yeah, I stand by my statement that trying to use a Gamecube as a database server is pointless especially if it must be backed by a storage server, eliminating the cost argument. I've been hacking on console hardware for about five years now, and while it's fun for the most part it is totally pointless and without purpose. So you know, fuck yourself, asshole.
don't it? by DrSkwid · 2004-03-06 23:47 · Score: 2, Funny

"it says something that the GameCube was easier to convert to than Windows, don't it?"

Yes, it says your command of English is poor.

--
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
linux is unstoppable ... by torpor · 2004-03-06 23:54 · Score: 4, Funny

... i just spent my sunday morning putting it on my ipod, which now has a whole new lease on life.

--
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Relevance? by JackBuckley · 2004-03-07 00:52 · Score: 4, Insightful

I suppose that this is interesting, in a geeky/hacker way, but I really don't think it belongs in the games section. Just because they used game console hardware for an OSS/Linux port story doesn't make it gaming news....
full tcp/ip root-boot over nfs is done. by torpor · 2004-03-07 01:11 · Score: 4, Insightful

it works already. you boot gc-linux over nfs.

i just found a reason, finally, to by myself a gamecube. ;)

--
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
What? by Rhinobird · 2004-03-07 01:48 · Score: 3, Funny

What, you play GAMES on your Game Cube?
That is sooooo passe...

--
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
Needs a Hard drive hack. by polyp2000 · 2004-03-07 01:49 · Score: 4, Interesting

Naturally I think this is a cool project. I have the Linux kit from Sony for my PS2, its fun to tinker with, the 40gb hard drive is a nice addition. It would be nice if "somehow" , someone found a way of attaching a harddrive to a game cube. It would make such, a tiny and cute little box, but free it from the reigns of having to use the network to boot and load applications from a remote machine! GC's are soo cheap these day's id be tempted to get one just for some G3-Linux goodness!

--
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
Reminds me of Oracle. by torpor · 2004-03-07 01:53 · Score: 5, Informative

I once visited a friend on the Oracle campus in the 90's, and noticed that in a whole slew of cubicles, programmers had Nintendo 64 setups. It seems they were porting Netscape to N64 back then, and I always wondered how weird it was for Oracle to be involved in that at first.

I wonder whatever happened to that project. Clearly it never saw the light of day, but they did have Netscape up and running on those boxes.

Now it seems things have come full circle, in a sort of twisty klein bottle kind of way ...

--
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Why this is useful by highwindarea · 2004-03-07 15:58 · Score: 2, Insightful

There's a lot of comments about whther or not his is useful or just stupid. While you probably wouldn't be running a database on your gamecube (unless they port apache and python as well, for a very cheap web server), this ensures postgresql is platform independent which makes it easier to port to other more useful systems.

--
I think this internet thing sounds like a good idea