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Hackers Get Linux Running On a PlayStation 4 (engadget.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Two years after the PlayStation 4 was released, and two weeks after it was jailbroken, a group of hackers has now successfully installed Linux on it. "...it appears that the fail0verflow team utilized a WebKit bug similar to the one recently documented by GitHub user CTurt and then took things up a notch. CTurt's workaround focuses on the PlayStation 4's Webkit browser, which is tricked into freeing processes from the core of the console's operating system by an improvised webpage. The PS4 is powered by Sony's Orbis OS, which is based on a Unix-like software called FreeBSD. With a route into the console's system, fail0verflow then identified weaknesses in the PlayStation 4's GPU. It specifically called out engineers from semiconductor company Marvell, accusing them of 'smoking some real good stuff' when they designed the PlayStation 4's southbridge chip."

5 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. A UNIX like system? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      "is based on a Unix-like software called FreeBSD"....HA!.

    1. Re:A UNIX like system? by Dwedit · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's a UNIX system, I know this!

  2. Re:Replace FreeBSD with Linux? Bad deal by Mazhe · · Score: 5, Funny

    systemd MUST run everywhere! there is no place for everything else.

  3. Re:Okay by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Microsoft don't hate Linux anymore.

    Actually, they do.

    Oh, sure, the "official" stance is that Linux and MS are the "bestest friends evar!1!", but the company and the employees still hate Linux. They see it as a threat and they wish it would die. They are not Linux-friendly and they trash-talk it whenever the subject comes up. Ask me how I know.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  4. Re:Linux vs Unix? by MtHuurne · · Score: 4, Informative

    FreeBSD comes with compatibility for running Linux executables, but it doesn't let you run the Linux kernel unless you run it in a VM, which doesn't seem to be the case here judging from the boot logging. Getting the Linux kernel to run on the bare hardware means adding drivers to run on the PS4 hardware, which is PC-like but not exactly a PC, and I doubt Sony published their FreeBSD hardware drivers. Doing that in just 2 weeks time is pretty impressive in my opinion.