Get your PS3 pre-installed with Linux

by Nick Doerr { Feb 26th 2007 at 10:00AM }

As my good friend Pat said to me in one of my lesser moments, "Damn it, it's Linux (Lynn-ux), not Linux (Lie-nux). People will think you're talking about that Charlie Brown kid." So true... just so I get my blue blanket. In any case, this news comes from TerraSoft -- those guys behind YDL (Yellow Dog Linux) and all that stuff. They're accepting pre-orders for PlayStation 3's that they've already installed a Linux OS on in addition to the PS3's native OS.

TerraSoft has said their PS3's will ship with "a DVD, installation guide, sticker, and "flippy" -- presumably a dog toy". Hopefully it's yellow, too. That would be greatness. This is a pretty bold maneuver by TerraSoft and one that would've been keen from day one, though we're not altogether disappointed that it wasn't. Now those not hardware-inclined (like yours truly) won't have to look all over the place for very obvious tutorials and can continue to be concerned with knowing about the software of the past, distant past, and future. Right?

Tags: Linux, Playstation 3, Playstation3, PS3, Sony, Yellow Dog, YellowDog

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

simcha @ Feb 26th 2007 10:22AM

Has anyone installed Yellow dog yet? I'm curious as to how it is and if it's worth putting on my ps3.

simcha @ Feb 26th 2007 6:24PM

Ok good to know. I was just curious. Emulation would be good as would be word processing but it's not necessary.

ck @ Feb 26th 2007 1:33PM

If it's not already supplied (I haven't checked), you can install OpenOffice and do all the word processing you want.

http://www.openoffice.org/

ez054098 @ Feb 26th 2007 8:34PM

Why?

drivendriver @ Feb 26th 2007 10:00PM

Among other things, OpenOffice, Firefox, email and chat clients are included in the Yellow Dog distribution.

Installation is pretty straightforward (I hadn't touched Linux in over 10 years, and I didn't have any problem).

Linux on PS3 is extremely interesting for those of us who are interested in using Cell for scientific computing and can't afford (or can't convince their bosses to order) a $20K IBM QS20 server. 140+ GFLOPS (single precision) for $500 (or even $600) is a real bargain.

Ken Edwards @ Feb 26th 2007 7:33PM

I have installed YDL 5 on three PS3s now. It is a very simple install. It comes with most everything you would want. OpenOffice is on there, as is GIMP, GAIM, Firefox.

What is not included is VLC or MP3 support (OGG, of course). Getting VLC installed is a chore, but the basic install with thousands of RPMs installed quite painlessly.

It is nice having YDL on my PS3. Makes the $600 hurt just a little less.

Zozzi @ Feb 26th 2007 8:07PM

may I asked a question regarding linux? is there some kind of multiboot? or how change between playing the games and running linux?

drivendriver @ Feb 26th 2007 10:01PM

Zozzi,

There is dual boot. Linux is installed in its own partition on the hard drive. An option in the PS3 system settings lets you set the default OS. When you set that option to "Other OS", you boot Linux. When you're in Linux, the command boot-game-os allows you to go back to the Sony game OS.