Why install Ubuntu on PS3 or PS2?

[kpkeerthi]

I have never used any gaming consoles in my life so please pardon me for asking such a dumb question. All I understand is that PS3 is used to play console games (in HD display & surround audio and such). But I see people installing ubuntu (or other OS) on it. Why do that?

[Daveski]

All I understand is that PS3 is used to play console games (in HD display & surround audio and such). But I see people installing ubuntu (or other OS) on it. Why do that?

Because they can.

Don't be surprised to find Linux being installed on a toaster- it's all part of the fun. Sony wanted both the PS2 and PS3 to be operational as a 'Computer' rather than a 'Games Console' as there is less tax on a multi-purpose computing device than a games machine (in the UK anyway).

[kpkeerthi]

So with Ubuntu + PS3, one can browse online, watch vidoes, listen to music, create documents and play console game? :shock:

[Daveski]

I believe so. Also email, etc. etc.

[Ciego]

You can do anything that you would normally do on your PC.

[EdThaSlayer]

People just do that to look cool.
Personally I would rather use a modern computer than some console for all my computing needs.

[weasel fierce]

because loading up your ps3 and playing some emulated 8 bit nintendo games would be a blast :)

[MrHorus]

So with Ubuntu + PS3, one can browse online, watch vidoes, listen to music, create documents and play console game? :shock:

No.

You can do anything you can do in Linux but you won't be able to play Playstation games as you have Linux booted as the operating system, not the Sony supplied one that is capable of playing games.

With my xbox for example I have changed the dashboard but not the underlying operating system so when it boots, the dashboard is a fully-fledged media centre but I can still put in a game and play it without needing to reboot.

[slayerboy]

I would much rather have a thin client setup with a tv hooked to it than a console. I can understand if you no longer use the console to play games that it might be fun, but consoles are for games. I don't even watch DVD's on my PS2 because I found that the PS2 doesn't play some DVD's that a $30 DVD player from walmart will play just fine, not to mention better sound (more level).

I do like the concept of the Wii being able to surf the net. Now, all I need that to do is connect to a music server, which connecting to the net using Opera should be able to connect to something like slimserver over the net and play fine. I don't have the Wii yet so I'm not sure how this would work though.

[slimdog360]

people install it on their playstations because they are the 1337 HaX0Rs

[sweemeng]

actually it is part of the culture. not limited to linux. it applies to bsd too.
in the early days of computing, an pdp 11 is used t control railroad model.

the reason is they do it, is the same reason why people scale everest, explore the sea, etc. it is because we can.

[Luffield]

I thought people did it because these machines give an excellent computing power to price ratio.

[bigyoy]

I guess it's just for the fun of it - if you can do it, then why not?

[prizrak]

Basically the PS3 is the cheapest PPC computer on the market. A desktop with the same specs will cost you well over a grand, PS3 is $600 and you can turn it into anything you want. Especially nice is that it's full 1080p HD and BD so you can run it as an HTPC that will be able to do all your HD content. It sux as a console tho.

[gldvxx]

for game development! from the wiki:


Because we have plans for having Linux on board the PS3, we also recognize Linux programming activities… Other than game studios tied to official developer licenses, we had like to see various individuals participate in content creation for the PS3.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3#Linux

[cowlip]

Game consoles tend to make excellent home theatre PCs, as seen with the oiginal Xbox's homebrew, Xbox Media Center/XBMC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBMC With the PS3's USB ports, you're supposedly able to go further than that with a mythtv backend because the ps3 has usb ports, so maybe you could hook up a tv tuner.

I'm thinking of XBMC-like thing, or a home-theatre PC; it's cheaper to get a PS3 than to get a PS3 and a HTPC.

[Kateikyoushi]

I did not upgrade our desktop PC for years because I rather want to use PS3 with linux. It is cheaper this way and I am not giving money to support something I do not want this way.

[happy-and-lost]

Wonder what you can do with a Nintendo DS? It's a 100MHz ARM with 4MB RAM. Beryl here I come... :D

[mikgus]

Wonder what you can do with a Nintendo DS? It's a 100MHz ARM with 4MB RAM. Beryl here I come... :D

Berryl can be hard but linux and nano-X seems to be running
http://www.dslinux.org/index.html

linux or some sort of bsd has been ported to almost anything with a processor.

[beefcurry]

There more then one approach, installing ubuntu of PS3 is just a proof of method, opens way for other hackers to try to make it more meaningful/useful. It can just mean I can by a PS3 instead of a computer, or it can mean my university can buy PS3's instead of a server stack (see yellow dog linux :P)

[regomodo]

people install it on their playstations because they are the 1337 HaX0Rs

don't you mean 1337 h4X0rs :D

[rockroc]

yup u said it i just installed ps2 linux today nd im looking into installing Ubuntu sometime this week

[earthmeLon]

The Playstation 3 has a Cell Broadband Engine (https://www-01.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/products/Cell_Broadband_Engine), which is a multi-core processor with a CPU core, as well as what could be considered GPU cores. On top of this, the PS3 also has a nice graphics card called the Reality Synthesizer (RSX) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSX_%27Reality_Synthesizer%27), which is a modified Nvidia 7800.

Because of this, the PS3 can provide a lot of processing power at a pretty low price. The Cell processor supports OpenCL, which allows you to take advantage of high-computation programs (Bitcoin mining, Pyrite) or write them yourself.

Although graphics cards now-adays can easily out-perform the PS3, it did take them a long time to catch up and the PS3 is still a great development device for those interested in learning specialized computing (OpenCL, PowerPC64). You can buy a PS3 and put Linux on it for $300, or you can buy an entire computer, the graphic card of such a computer will be ~$300 by itself.

If you're interested in putting Linux on your PS3, you should find remnants of the Gitbrew (http://gitbrew.org) team's work scattered around the internet, even though their site no longer exists.

[Elfy]

Closing thread that's older than elfy