(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Sony: No Linux on PS3 anymore
Tokyo (ip-192.com): A new firmware upgrade is coming to Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3), and it will eliminate the possibility to install Linux on the machines. Sony says that the upcoming PS3 3.21 update will disable the "Install Other OS" feature. Users currently running a Debian, Fedora, OpenSuse or Ubuntu installation on their PlayStation will not be able to access their data, Sony said.
Opting out of the firmware update will keep the Linux OS running, but owners will lose access to the PlayStation network, Blue-ray movies and copyright protected videos. "Due to security concerns, Sony Computer Entertainment will remove the functionality through the 3.21 system software update," said Patrick Seybold, Senior Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media, in a blog. He did not elaborate what security concerns triggered Sony's decision, but the firmware upgrade, scheduled to be released on April 1, comes two months after George Hotz hacked the PS3.
While consumers used Linux distributions mainly to play with the PS3 processor, corporations and universities did network PlayStations to build cheap supercomputers. Frank Mueller, an Associate Professor at North Carolina State University, said in a 2009 interview with the national public radio that he created one of the first academic PS3 clusters "$50,000 worth of computer power for a mere $5,000." These makeshift supercomputers did help scientists to study black holes in space and solve differential equations. But all good things come to an end, and cheap may get expensive after all.
"For those PS3 users who are currently using the "Other OS" feature but choose to install the system software update, to avoid data loss they first need to back-up any data stored within the hard drive partition used by the "Other OS," as they will not be able to access that data following the update," Seybold continued.
Sony already removed the option to use any "Other OS" on the latest "slim" versions of PS3.
Related posts:
