Linux on PS3

I was thinking of installing Linux on my PS3, mainly just because I can, also because it'll be a fun little project, and it's cheaper than buying a new computer. Has anyone else done this? Is it worth it? What type of programs can you run on it? I'd like to be able to play old PC games on my HDTV, would this be possible (possibly using a Windows emulator)? I have some work related programs that I'll investigate myself, but I'd like to get some advice off you guys on the general idea

There is no way you'd be able to play old Windows games. It runs Linux on its own slow enough, so chucking in Windows XP and games on top of that would slow it to a pathetic crawl.

Ultimately, the Linux thing is a gimmick with no practical use whatsoever.

MCN wrote:There is no way you'd be able to play old Windows games. It runs Linux on its own slow enough, so chucking in Windows XP and games on top of that would slow it to a pathetic crawl.

Ultimately, the Linux thing is a gimmick with no practical use whatsoever.

Cheers for that

It would be useful as a bare-bones backup PC with Open Office if my laptop got FUBARed, so I'll probably do it at some point (and again, it's a fairly interesting looking project which will get me used to a different OS without risking damage to anything on my computer now). Apparently you have to buy the codecs to play any media, so it might be useful to keep me focussed on my work . I thought the PC games thing was going to be a bit overambitious, but if I do end up doing it I'll try some oldies (i.e. 95/98 era) and see what happens.

I'd like to speak to someone who's actually installed it, as I want to know how easy it is to switch between Linux and the XMB - I wouldn't be very popular if I made watching DVDs/BRs confusing!

I installed Yellow Dog and used it once. Stupid OS.

To be fair, I think there are distros other than Yellow Dog these days, which I'd hope are more capable.

TheTurnipKing wrote:To be fair, I think there are distros other than Yellow Dog these days, which I'd hope are more capable.

Apparently they're throttled in which resources they can access, to prevent piratey-types using it as a backdoor to running unsigned code.

MCN wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:To be fair, I think there are distros other than Yellow Dog these days, which I'd hope are more capable.

Apparently they're throttled in which resources they can access, to prevent piratey-types using it as a backdoor to running unsigned code.

Wikipedia wrote:Linux on the PlayStation 3 allows for a huge range of homebrew programs to be developed and is entirely and completely sanctioned by Sony. Although the Cell's performance is more than enough to handle most media requirements, it does lack the 3D performance of a contemporary GPU. For this reason many complex games aren't possible on the PlayStation 3 through Linux as access to hardware acceleration in the RSX is restricted by a hypervisor.

So it seems.

TheTurnipKing wrote:

MCN wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:To be fair, I think there are distros other than Yellow Dog these days, which I'd hope are more capable.

Apparently they're throttled in which resources they can access, to prevent piratey-types using it as a backdoor to running unsigned code.

Wikipedia wrote:Linux on the PlayStation 3 allows for a huge range of homebrew programs to be developed and is entirely and completely sanctioned by Sony. Although the Cell's performance is more than enough to handle most media requirements, it does lack the 3D performance of a contemporary GPU. For this reason many complex games aren't possible on the PlayStation 3 through Linux as access to hardware acceleration in the RSX is restricted by a hypervisor.

So it seems.

Of course, by "unsigned code", I was merely using a code-word for copied games.

MCN wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

MCN wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:To be fair, I think there are distros other than Yellow Dog these days, which I'd hope are more capable.

Apparently they're throttled in which resources they can access, to prevent piratey-types using it as a backdoor to running unsigned code.

Wikipedia wrote:Linux on the PlayStation 3 allows for a huge range of homebrew programs to be developed and is entirely and completely sanctioned by Sony. Although the Cell's performance is more than enough to handle most media requirements, it does lack the 3D performance of a contemporary GPU. For this reason many complex games aren't possible on the PlayStation 3 through Linux as access to hardware acceleration in the RSX is restricted by a hypervisor.

So it seems.

Of course, by "unsigned code", I was merely using a code-word for copied games.

I was agreeing with you. The lack of 3D acceleration would be a problem for many applications, especially fun toys like emulators I imagine old PC apps would run abominably, since they're going to be based around x86 machine code, which presumably the cell does not support natively.

Basically you'd wind up with a PS3 that has slightly improved media-centre capabilities and you'd have to reboot if you wanted to play a game instead.

TheTurnipKing wrote:

MCN wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

MCN wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:To be fair, I think there are distros other than Yellow Dog these days, which I'd hope are more capable.

Apparently they're throttled in which resources they can access, to prevent piratey-types using it as a backdoor to running unsigned code.

Wikipedia wrote:Linux on the PlayStation 3 allows for a huge range of homebrew programs to be developed and is entirely and completely sanctioned by Sony. Although the Cell's performance is more than enough to handle most media requirements, it does lack the 3D performance of a contemporary GPU. For this reason many complex games aren't possible on the PlayStation 3 through Linux as access to hardware acceleration in the RSX is restricted by a hypervisor.

So it seems.

Of course, by "unsigned code", I was merely using a code-word for copied games.

I was agreeing with you. The lack of 3D acceleration would be a problem for many applications, especially fun toys like emulators I imagine old PC apps would run abominably, since they're going to be based around x86 machine code, which presumably the cell does not support natively.

Basically you'd wind up with a PS3 that has slightly improved media-centre capabilities and you'd have to reboot if you wanted to play a game instead.

I know, I was just clearing up any confusion that may occur with homebrew apps technically being "unsigned" code.