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PlayStation 3 HDD to Ship With Linux
timtwobuck writes "Gamespot.com is reporting that Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, has disclosed in an interview that PlayStation 3 will natively run Linux. In fact, it will come bundled with it, if you purchase the HDD peripheral." From the article: "But while Linux would require a hard drive to run on, Kutaragi told Impress PC Watch, 'We're not going to equip [the PS3 with] a HDD by default, because no matter how much [capacity] we put in it, it won't be enough.' It was unclear whether he was referring to the previously known fact that the PS3 would not have an internal hard drive or whether he was indicating that the device would not come with the external 2.5-inch detachable HDD outlined in the specs revealed at E3."
If it's running linux, do you think that the open source nature will help with emulation programs? What about running other emulators on the PS3? Perhaps that was part of Sony's strategy. Hell, it might even run WINE fairly well.
- Just because we CAN do a thing, does not mean we SHOULD do that thing.
After the whole fiasco that Sony had with the NA release of HDD (delaying it by years, promising it would do things it never did, then abandoning it completely with the PS2 redesign after being on market less than a year), I'm not beliving anything Sony says about PS3, HDD specs or otherwise, until it is physically at the store available for purchase.
Personally, I think it would be a mistake that they not include an HDD with the console, but considering the rumoured cost of the PS3, it is probably doubtful that it will include one at launch.
Isn't this incredible. A few years ago they wouldn't have touched Linux with a ten foot pole and now they're embracing Free Software.
This, people, is a bloodless revolution in action. Something to tell your grandchildern about. "What's that grandpa? How could software have been anything but free?"
Of course, no matter what exact words are coming out of Kutaragi's mouth, I'm sure what he *really* means is closer to the second statement. But it's interesting that they are trying to position the PS3 as a real computer, not just a game console. If they really do equip it with Linux and provide dev tools, they won't be able to control the resulting flood of hacks, emulators, media center applications, indie games, and the like.
main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
I wish that you didn't have to buy a proprietary HDD from Sony, because you know that the markup on a "Sony Brand HDD" is going to be way over that of normal store bought computer HDD, even though the Sony HDD is just a regular hard drive that's not even made by Sony. I'm also wondering what capacity limit it will recognize. The PS2 will only recognize up to 127 Gigs (even though the PS2 drive is only 40G). If we're lucky they'll let you use a 3rd party drive via USB. The ideal would be to let us use 3rd party drives and let us download the version of linux they're offering.
PS: I also hope they allow you to do more with the HDD this time around. The only thing my PS2 drive was good for was 'FFXI' (which I barely played) and to watch live highlights from my ESPN NFL 2K5 games. And take a hint from the XBOX, let us rip our own music to the HDD so we can make our own in game playlists.
"Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
Can anyone understand what this guy is saying? It seems like everything he says he says the opposite like 2 seconds later!
.. but...I thought...WTF!
"We're not going to equip [the PS3 with] an HDD by default."
"So in order to declare that the PS3 is a computer, I think we'll have [the PS3's HDD] preinstalled with Linux as a bonus."
Basically he wants to have PS3 seen as a computer not just a game machine. OK, fine. He says to do this it will need as OS (Linux) to be installed on the HDD. OK, fine. But PS3 won't ship with a HDD. OK,
"reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
Unfortunately "does it run linux?" is a question that has lost its meaning. Other day one of my friends saw my xbox and asked me this very question. I said yes...and after a couple of seconds I asked him "why? does it matter?". His reply - "its just cool". He even doesn't have a freakin clue what to do with it? Sad, but Linux just like video games is fast losing its "nerdy" qualities.
Maybe they could have installed a small flash drive that works in lieu of the optional drive, so that developers would be more inclined to use the feature.
If PS3 adopts Linux, it's an opportunity for linux to get noticed by the games industry. They might realise that there is a market left unexploited.
They might also realise that if their games use OpenGL instead of DirectX they can run on any platform, whether it's windows or linux. So there is *no* extra cost in supporting linux.
If all games were published on linux as well as on windows, and linux was an equavalent gaming platform, gamers would sure go with linux, instead of windows, cause you don't have to spend something like £80 for an OS. Instead you can spend the extra money you saved on your favorite games. And that's even more sales for game publishers.
I wish they could see that. Could this be the beginning of linux as a gaming platform?
VStrider.
PS2 Linux was a disaster. First, it was ludicrously expensive - considering you were paying for a free OS. Then there was the whole fiasco about suitable displays - you could only play games on a TV, but only use Linux on a monitor (and one with a "Sync on green" facility too). And finally, they crippled access to all the interesting bits of the system too for good measure.
If that was their idea of opening up the system, then I don't hold out much hope for Linux on PS3.
TFA alludes to this when Kutaragi says "...So even though we're making something that has the capability to be recognized as a supercomputer and requires paperwork when exporting or importing, the government sees it as a toy."
Computers do not have import tarriffs following the implementation of the WTO Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products (ITA).
In general, toys are subject to import tarriffs although, it is difficult to say when a toy is a toy and not sporting equipment or a computer in this case.
I have terrible problems exporting and importing mountain bike components.
I call your bluff -- ' v'½--Ç-Ø OE',' isn't a name at all! In other news, Slashdot (perhaps unsurprisingly) isn't very multilingual.
However, I did once know a Japanese lady whose family name was 'kyuuraku' as in 'long-lasting pleasure'.
I think it's one of those names awarded to artists and craftsmen way back when... they're getting pretty rare now.
There's a list of 4-character names here:
http://www.ipc.shizuoka.ac.jp/~jjksiro/4moji.html
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
I think it would be cool if we could add off-load cards to our computer that programs could use when available. Much like servers can have SSL cards that they offload all cryptography too. Imagine a Cell processor on a PCI-X card, all graphics programs could use it (photoshop, 3dsmax, Edit) and even the video card could give it some jobs to do if it would be faster. While we're at it, lets take all the system memory and slap it in upgradeable cards. Why should the machine be limited to 2 Dimm slots. They already have cards with memory to run as harddrives (flash drives)
Yeah, I know... pipedream. I just think we should be able to add speed to our computer as easily as we can add capacity (memory, drivespace)
Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
The Linux on PS/2 had some serious limitations. It didn't run on the raw hardware, it ran on a bit of an abstraction layer, that enforced some limitations, like no DVD playing, as I understand it. I saw a presentation by the one of the guys who made the compute cluster out of PS2s and he said that the access checks in that abstraction layer seriously slowed down certain operations.
Making games for PS3 Linux will probably have to deal with limitations (like the screen resolution limits on the PSP - it won't let just any program use the full native screen resolution, just ones approved by Sony) and won't be a good commercial bet since probably most people won't have a hard drive hooked up to their PS3...
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
I hope so!!! I'd LOVE to run a triple boot Tiger/Longhorn/Lindows PS3!!!
I probably missed the point in a previous post you made, but what are your thoughts on why they decided to put Linux on the HD?
While it is possible Sony has a developer that is working on an app that uses Linux based app they that want for the PS3;
a scenario I find more plausable is Sony has some custom app they are developing and want to run it on Linux (no licensing fees to MS), and HDD is an easy way to add the OS. Maybe a web app, TiVO like device, or even the front end for a game rental/purchase system. Making the PS3 a mediua device with TV recording / music playing / streaming internet feeds would make sense as well - especially since some companies already use Linux as the base.
Then again, maybe they just like Linux.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
I wonder will we see people who do Altivec-intensive cluster software fleeing to this from the ruins of Apple?
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