Linux for Playstation 2 • Hacker News Board

Re: Linux for Playstation 2

#51

Post by pjmlp » Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 7:45 AM UTC

Jasper_ wrote: post #14

If you didn't know, this was primarily a tax dodge for the EU. Since it ran Linux, they felt they could classify the PlayStation 2 as a general-purpose computer, which receives a lower tariff rate than game consoles. PlayStation 3 had OtherOS for the same purpose, until the EU rejected the claim and reclassified it as a game console, and then Sony pulled support for OtherOS (it also being primarily a vehicle for pira…

Completly false, that was shipping Yabasic CD with the Playstation that turned it into a 8 bit like home computer.

PS2Linux was the next iteration of Net Yaroze from Playstation 1.

Re: Linux for Playstation 2

#52

Post by pjmlp » Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 7:47 AM UTC

Wingman4l7 wrote: post #42

Jasper_ wrote: post #14

If you didn't know, this was primarily a tax dodge for the EU. Since it ran Linux, they felt they could classify the PlayStation 2 as a general-purpose computer, which receives a lower tariff rate than game consoles. PlayStation 3 had OtherOS for the same purpose, until the EU rejected the claim and reclassified it as a game console, and then Sony pulled support for OtherOS (it also being primarily a vehicle for pira…

Then Sony got sued in a class-action for removing support for OtherOS!

That was in the Playstation 3, this was for Playstation 2.

Re: Linux for Playstation 2

#53

Post by gumby » Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 8:08 AM UTC

lupire wrote: post #50

gumby wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can tell you that support for this went all the way up to Ken Kutaragi. I discussed it with him. He was also responsible for the Ethernet port. He had real vision for the platform. It was more than a tax dodge.

If the CEO supported it, why didn't it happen? CEOs like tax dodges and plausible deniability.

What do you mean? Sony did release Linux for the PS2

Re: Linux for Playstation 2

#54

Post by King1st » Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 4:43 PM UTC

monocasa wrote: post #39

dfox wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IBM sold that as BladeCenter QS series. Reportendly there even was an prototype version that had essentially same hardware as PS3 including the optical drive (production ones are dual-CPU without GPU and optical drive).

FWIW, early designs for the PS3 also were missing the GPU in lieu of another Cell chip. The end of Dennard scaling meant that they didn't hit the clock speed they originally intended (close to 5Ghz). It was originally supposed to do rasterization in software on that second cell, but relatively in the last minute they needed to strap a dedicated GPU to it. That's why Cell reads out of VRAM are incredibly slow, around…

While true, Its important to note that the second Cell wasn't gonna be the same type as the main CPU cell. The cell they intended to use as the GPU would have only 4SPEs(vs 7 in the main Cell)along with various rasterization components. Would have been cool. Settling on the Cell was compromise after compromise.