PS3 Yellow Dog Linux 5 walkthrough at IBM.com
The short version. If you’re too lazy to read the whole article, here’s what it’s about.
- Consoles are locked so that only compatible games can run on them (and so game publishers will pay royalties to the console maker).
- Sony‘s PS3 is not as locked down: it allows Linux. (But it doesn’t get accelerated graphics.)
- There’s a growing series of Linux tutorials at IBM.com.
Spread the word and encourage new applications. Because Linux is love (IGN says it’s partly why the PS3 beats the Wii).
“While the Cell BE processor has been out for a while in specialized hardware, the PS3 is the first Cell BE-based device that has been affordable and readily available. And, with Linux, anyone who wants to can program it.” That’s what Jonathan Bartlett of New Medio wrote at IBM.com in a rather nifty Linux tutorial / walkthrough about how to program high-performance applications on the Cell BE processor.
In simple English… But even if you’re not interested in programming, you might be interested in the first half of the walkthrough because it has one of the best (short yet complete) explanations of the whole Linux-PS3 “gaming politics” that we’ve ever seen (hmmm… is anybody inspired to work on the QJ.NET PS3 WIKI?):
It is unusual for gaming consoles to allow foreign operating systems to be installed on them. Since consoles are usually sold at a loss, they are usually locked down to prevent games from running on them without the publisher paying royalties to the console developer. Sony decided to open up the PS3 console a little bit, and allow third-party operating systems to be installed, with the caveat that they do not get accelerated graphics.
Because of this, you can now install Linux on the PS3. You have to jump through a few hoops, but it definitely works. Terra Soft Solutions has developed Yellow Dog Linux 5 in cooperation with Sony specifically for the PS3. It even offers, uniquely among distributions so far, support for those using it on PS3. Yellow Dog Linux (also known as YDL) has been an exclusively PowerPC-based distribution since its inception, so it was not surprising that Sony contracted it to develop the next version of YDL specifically for the PS3.
Well other than “caveat” (a warning or exemption; from Latin cavere, “to take care”), that was generally easy to understand.
By the way, if you’re interested, you might want to look at the Yellow Dog Linux free version that was recently released.
The short version. If you’re too lazy to read the whole article, here’s what it’s about.
- Consoles are locked so that only compatible games can run on them (and so game publishers will pay royalties to the console maker).
- Sony‘s PS3 is not as locked down: it allows Linux. (But it doesn’t get accelerated graphics.)
- There’s a growing series of Linux tutorials at IBM.com.
Spread the word and encourage new applications. Because Linux is love (IGN says it’s partly why the PS3 beats the Wii).
“While the Cell BE processor has been out for a while in specialized hardware, the PS3 is the first Cell BE-based device that has been affordable and readily available. And, with Linux, anyone who wants to can program it.” That’s what Jonathan Bartlett of New Medio wrote at IBM.com in a rather nifty Linux tutorial / walkthrough about how to program high-performance applications on the Cell BE processor.
In simple English… But even if you’re not interested in programming, you might be interested in the first half of the walkthrough because it has one of the best (short yet complete) explanations of the whole Linux-PS3 “gaming politics” that we’ve ever seen (hmmm… is anybody inspired to work on the QJ.NET PS3 WIKI?):
It is unusual for gaming consoles to allow foreign operating systems to be installed on them. Since consoles are usually sold at a loss, they are usually locked down to prevent games from running on them without the publisher paying royalties to the console developer. Sony decided to open up the PS3 console a little bit, and allow third-party operating systems to be installed, with the caveat that they do not get accelerated graphics.
Because of this, you can now install Linux on the PS3. You have to jump through a few hoops, but it definitely works. Terra Soft Solutions has developed Yellow Dog Linux 5 in cooperation with Sony specifically for the PS3. It even offers, uniquely among distributions so far, support for those using it on PS3. Yellow Dog Linux (also known as YDL) has been an exclusively PowerPC-based distribution since its inception, so it was not surprising that Sony contracted it to develop the next version of YDL specifically for the PS3.
Well other than “caveat” (a warning or exemption; from Latin cavere, “to take care”), that was generally easy to understand.
By the way, if you’re interested, you might want to look at the Yellow Dog Linux free version that was recently released.