PS3 Linux Pointless?

[AirForceGamer]

I have noticed that their are more people that have had bad things to say about Linux on PS3. Not only on this forum, but others as well. PS3 doesn't have enough RAM to support anything more than DOSbox. YDL does not have DX or OpenGL support, bluetooth is buggy, firefox is unstable. Other than Plugging in a mouse and keyboard and surfing the net what does YDL on PS3 or even Linux on PS3 have to offer me over a generic Windows PC?

[ppietro]

I have noticed that their are more people that have had bad things to say about Linux on PS3. Not only on this forum, but others as well. PS3 doesn't have enough RAM to support anything more than DOSbox. YDL does not have DX or OpenGL support, bluetooth is buggy, firefox is unstable. Other than Plugging in a mouse and keyboard and surfing the net what does YDL on PS3 or even Linux on PS3 have to offer me over a generic Windows PC?

There are many valid reasons for running Linux on a PS3 as well as some reasons why you may not want to.

Most of them have been discussed in this thread:
http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.php?t=2833

Cheers,
Paul

[billb]

I have noticed that their are more people that have had bad things to say about Linux on PS3. Not only on this forum, but others as well. PS3 doesn't have enough RAM to support anything more than DOSbox. YDL does not have DX or OpenGL support, bluetooth is buggy, firefox is unstable. Other than Plugging in a mouse and keyboard and surfing the net what does YDL on PS3 or even Linux on PS3 have to offer me over a generic Windows PC?

Clearly you have read some incorrect information ... nothing more than DOSBOX?? See here. Sometimes people complain about things they don't understand, and that is just natural behavior.

It is true that ALL Linux distros on the PS3 have no hardware-accelerated OpenGL support (not just YDL). This doesn't mean that all games will run slowly, though.

I am currently seeing some instability in Firefox on YDL 6 ... this is a new .0 release, so I expect to see a fix for that in the future. (6.0.1 anyone?) It is not so unstable that it is unusable, but occasionally Firefox will suddenly close when I attempt to open a new tab, download a file, or something like that. The problem doesn't seem to occur when using Opera.

Anyway, there is no advantage over a cheap PC other than being able to run applications designed specifically for the Cell (and there aren't that many available yet), and playing PS1/2/3 games in the Game OS, of course.

I don't use bluetooth on PS3 Linux since I have an RF wireless USB PC gamepad and regular keyboard+mouse. I have tried briefly to get the Sixaxis controllers working over bluetooth with no success... not sure what the deal is with that.

[AirForceGamer]

My apologies. I didn't notice there had already been a discusion about this topic. I guess I am merely projecting my frustration with YDL on PS3.

[ppietro]

My apologies. I didn't notice there had already been a discusion about this topic. I guess I am merely projecting my frustration with YDL on PS3.

Sorry - it took me a while to find this post I made - but I think it will help put things in perspective a little.

http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.php?p=10768#10768

I agree - it can be frustrating if you're used to the polish of Windows - or even x86 mainstream Linux distros. But - think of the adventure! This is our OS to explore, define and create!

Cheers,
Paul

[AirForceGamer]

Well, since I've read your post ppietro, my neighbor has gotten into it. He bought a PS3 last night he asked me to put YDL on it. Now I geuss, along with boards like these, and two heads together we could figure out a lot of stuff. Just some of the things you talk about blow me away like compiling, or converting a program from x86 architecture, or building an RPM file from scratch. It's hard to find a guide that will tell you how to do that. Sometimes you do, but the post doesn't say "HowTo Compile" or "HowTo convert from x86 to PPC" I know these things could take time to learn. But we got all the time in the world.

[billb]

Well, since I've read your post ppietro, my neighbor has gotten into it. He bought a PS3 last night he asked me to put YDL on it. Now I geuss, along with boards like these, and two heads together we could figure out a lot of stuff. Just some of the things you talk about blow me away like compiling, or converting a program from x86 architecture, or building an RPM file from scratch. It's hard to find a guide that will tell you how to do that. Sometimes you do, but the post doesn't say "HowTo Compile" or "HowTo convert from x86 to PPC" I know these things could take time to learn. But we got all the time in the world.

Now that's the spirit!

You can do it!

[NeoAmsterdam]

I'll give you one reason why Linux on PS3s is a brilliant thing: Supercomputing for less than the cost of an economy car.

In an age where high-end video processing, CAD and 3D animation, and operating systems' internals are in the hands of consumers, it is reasonable -- no, it was inevitable -- that end-users would be able to harness a weapon like the Cell for their own purposes. If I had $20K to spare, I'd shell it out for a render farm of a dozen or so PS3s (with cracking a few encryption cyphers thrown in as an encore).

No - in the "PS3 Linux" equation, it is neither Linux nor the PS3 that's the problem: it's the PS3 [l]users.

<rant>:roll:
Unlike Mac users (and even some x86 users), PS3 users have the least knowledge about the hardware under the hood and even less about the operating system they've acquired. Since the hardware is (for all intents and purposes) proprietary and closed, and because there's no incentive to dig deeper into the bowels of source code (heaven forbid someone should learn some shell scripting, let alone C), the Linux and PowerPC communities now have to contend with a bunch of whiny geek-wannabes who cry when "1t d03snt w0rk!!11!!!:cry:", instead of intrepid hacksaw-wielders who rise to the challenge and document their progress.

If you're too damn lazy/stupid/ignorant to read a manual or even do some basic research before posing a question, then you deserve your ailments. Case in point: right now I have YDL 6 on a Quad G5, and I can't get X to present a GUI. Do I whine? No - I search for precedence, learn about xorg.conf, and try to fix it on my own before looking to others for help (and even sans-GUI, I can still make that Tower-o-Power run like clockwork on ice).

The gripes in the Playstation 3 forum: "Why won't VLC install?", "Why isn't Mplayer working?", "I don't have OpenGL", "Firefox doesn't work", blah blah blah.... These are not Linux or PS3 problems - They are [l]user problems, of which 95% can be solved with either of two proven solutions: RTFM and/or ./configure && make && make install:shock::!: Even the hardware "problems" really aren't. Unless you're rolling a Linux 2.6 distro for 386s with in-kernel math emulation support, limited to 8MB of RAM, and need to fit it the kernel and boot image into 4MB, you don't have a hardware problem - stop complaining about the firepower you've got because what you have is too good for Linux. (And, yes, I am rolling a Linux 2.6 distro for 386EX with in-kernel math emulation support, limited to 8MB of RAM, and need to fit it the kernel and boot image into 4MB, and yes it is a hardware problem but that's the whole point of the exercise thank you for asking )

Linux may have its problems, and so too may the PS3. But as far as I can tell, the fault lies not in either, but in the [l]users. I have no empathy for people who expect their solutions to come out of a yum repo - it is no different than bitching about the quality of the 'burgers at McDonald's when you have all the ingredients to make your own juicier, meatier, tastier, 'burger in your own kitchen and according to your own recipe.
</rant>

2¢

ADDENDUM: And to all those self-described "n00b"s, please go to /dev/null. Thank you.

[billb]

You know what's more annoying than really small black text? Really BIG invisible text!

[NeoAmsterdam]

You know what's more annoying than really small black text? Really BIG invisible text!

Well, I intentionally shrink my text so that it can be overlooked, seeing how it isn't really relevant to the matter at hand, but, if you omit this region then the answer to your comment is yeah.

[AirForceGamer]

I think your right Neo. That is a good point. Many Playstation users are new to the idea that they can put an operating system on their Playstation. Unknowing of the knowledge that it takes to run such a system. Simple tasks in Windows are not so simple in Linux. There are many sources for information on the internet. Including "The Linux Documentation Project" and even knowing the theory behind how a linux system works or the history of how the system came to be can help an enormous amount to the new linux user. Like they used to say RTFM. But, in order to make any Linux Distrobution "User friendly" or if we want linux to become an Operating System that could ever rival that of any OS from Microsoft, we need to be able to help these people who didn't know what they were getting themselves into. If it's with Howto's or specific instructions for installing a program or a driver for their favorite emulator, anything to get people to want to change to linux vs. windows will help the Linux community greatly.

[uncholowapo]

Linux is also not pointless because it gives users who have been sucked in by the Windows tornado to try something newer and harder to test their skill. It can help them to realize that sometimes you need to do a little work to get what you want unlike in windows where you just click on a button and your done. Where is the fun in that? I'd rather much prefer Linux over windows much more just because in my opinion the command line based instructions are cool and educative at the same time, but I am still bounded to windows by the limited resources that go to Linux because there are some programs and utilities that are windows specific. There is still a long way to go if linux will get up to the level of windows but who cares just as it provides a good OS then I'm happy with that.