[sf-lug] yellow dog linux on sony playstation 3

[jim stockford]

thanks very much for the info.

wii tech specs here:
http://www.nwiizone.com/nintendo-wii/nwii/nintendo-wii-technical- 
specifications/

    IBM's "Broadway" CPU is Power Architecture tweaked
specially for Nintendo's wii product. I'm assuming (which
scares me) this is a relative of IBM's cell CPU.

    I'm a vi kind of guy, love flat files, don't know about
games.... linux on the cell CPU family strikes me as
an interesting future direction.


On Dec 2, 2006, at 11:26 AM, Bill Kendrick wrote:

> On Sat, Dec 02, 2006 at 10:00:37AM -0800, jim stockford wrote:
>>
>>     anybody know about this? I saw a news blurb
>> to the effect that Yellow Dog released a PS3 linux
>> within a week of the PS3 debut.
>
> Yeah, I believe they got ahold of a dev PS3 before launch, to get  
> things
> ironed out.
>
> Other interesting newsbites:
>
>   PS3 to ship with Linux, Sony confirms  [March 17, 2006]
>   http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS2370343858.html
>
>     "...Kutaragi additionally confirmed that the gaming console will
>     ship with an upgradable 60GB hard drive pre-installed with  
> Linux..."
>
>   (which didn't happen (yet); see below)
>
> and:
>
>   PS3 Linux ready and waiting  [Oct. 17, 2006]
>   http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS2724484258.html
>
>     "Terra Soft says it was able to port YDL to the PS3 thanks to an
>     agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI). The
>     distribution is based on Fedora Core 5, along with a  
> next-generation
>     "E17" release of the Englightenment window manager. The  
> distribution
>     also integrates Cell-specific code created at the Barcelona
>     Supercomputing Center."
>
>
> Wikipedia has this:
>
>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS3#Linux
>
>     "Originally Sony stated that they were going to pre-install Linux
>     on the PS3's hard drive, but current units shipping do not include
>     Linux pre-installed.  Instead, Sony has made an option in the XMB  
> menu
>     to install other operating systems.  When installation is  
> complete, the
>     startup operating system can be changed.  The system can be easily
>     booted back into the cross media bar by holding down the power  
> button
>     while restarting.  Sony has set up a web page which will list
>     compatible operating systems.  Fedora Core 5 and Gentoo have been  
> run
>     on the PS3; however, Fedora Core 5 has not been optimized for the
>     relatively low amount of RAM.  The Sony-sponsored Yellow Dog Linux  
> for
>     the PS3 was released on November 27, 2006 to the YDL.net community,
>     and will be released on DVD on December 11, and finally as a  
> publicly
>     available image in late December."
>
>
>> If the machine is
>> sufficiently extensible, it could be a "thumping"
>> good linux platform.
>
> Personally, I wan't a Wii.  The PS3 looks like a nice upgrade,  
> especially
> graphically and in terms of multimedia crap that the PS2 doesn't do  
> (and
> that our TiVo does only mediocrly... we don't use it much but for  
> music).
> However, the price is way too high, and compared to all of the cool new
> things you can do with the Wii's controllers[*], totally does not seem
> worth it.  (Maybe once WipeOut, Tekken and Twisted Metal franchises get
> updated, I'll care about the PlayStation again.)
>
> At the price of a PS3, you could get a cheap Intel-compatible desktop
> that's at least as powerful, and probably a lot more flexible. :)
>
>
> [*] The Wii controllers:
>
>   + are wireless - no cables between you and the system, which has the  
> obvious
>     benefits, but also allows for a wide range of motions you can do  
> with
>     it... see next item:
>
>   + are motion-sensing - you can swing it like a racket when playing  
> tennis,
>     slash it like a sword when playing Zelda, use it like a steering
>     controller in race games, etc.
>
>   + are optical-sensing - aim it like a gun, point at menu items like  
> you would
>     a light pen, laser pointer or mouse,
>
>   + have force-feedback
>
> and
>
>   + have speakers - when you fire the grappling hook in Zelda, the  
> controller
>     ITSELF makes a *ka-chink!* sound, too
>
> See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote
>
>
> PS - Wii is compatible with GameCube game discs, controllers and  
> memory sticks.
> It also has a download area where you can purchase classic Nintendo,
> SuperNintendo, Sega Genesis, TurboGraphics(?) and Nintendo64 titles.
> So it's ALSO nicely backwards-compatible. >:^)
>
> PPS - Yes, I really want a Wii.  No budget this Christmas, though. :(
>
> -- 
> -bill!
> bill at newbreedsoftware.com
> http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/
>
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