Bastards!!!

[zosodk69]

I'm red with anger about this decision by Sony!  "Other OS" was an advertised feature that influenced my purchasing decision.  I spend roughly 50% of my time in the PS3 in the Other OS environment.

I hear a lot of people pointing out that productivity applications on PS3 Linux are rather pointless due to the abysmal performance.  What PS3 Linux does fairly well though is emulation.  In the last couple months I played through all three Turricans via e-uae.  I recently played through TMNT under sdlmame with my neighbor.  NES/SNES emulation works well too.  Vintage gaming with a Six-Axis on my 52" LCD!  That is what drew me to PS3 Linux.

In addition to Vintage gaming, I play online with relatives via the Playstation Network.  Now I'm being told by Sony that I have to choose which advertised feature I like better.

I have to reiterate: this was an advertised feature!  It's on the box, in the manual, and in Sony's marketing literature!

[zosodk69]

@Iggy:
Linux on the PS3 runs as a virtual machine under a hypervisor and as such doesn't have direct access to the hardware.  The video hardware specifically is gimped to a simple framebuffer without any 3D acceleration.  This is presumably to prevent access to people whom aren't licensed to develop for the RSX chip.  The basic 2D video is sufficient for Amiga emulation.

@scuzzb494:
The statement "The PS3 is a games machine" is purely subjective.   Other OS was a marketed feature.

[zosodk69]

Your talking FAT here arn`t you. The PS3 has moved on and the hardwear like my original FAT is now out of date. The SLIM never supported the other OS feature as I understand so why is anyone surprised that 3 year old technology is now going to be updated to bring it in line with the slim PS3. Eventually the FAT will disappear as the PS3 has become far more popular since the release of the SLIM... And more changes are in the pipeline. SONY won't make the same mistake again as they did with the XBOX and they will keep the 'gaming console' ahead of the pack. The games are what sells, not the disc player ... and a specialist minority group like LINUX are hardly their concern.... And they can change their mode of operation at any time. I support SONY for their gaming console, always will. So If they think its necessary to move the platform on to compete  with crappy Microsoft then I am very very pleased. Seriously if you want LINUX go get a tin box....

The PS3 is internet dependant for gaming now and most stuff won`t run without the Playstation Network which is free. This internet updating tool from SONY keeps both FAT and SLIM healthy, for PS3 browser and gaming purposes. That is the focus, sorry. So the computer will get updated unless you simply disconnect it from the telephone line.

scuzz

That all sounds great accept that it is mostly made up.  "The PS3 has moved on and the hardwear like my original FAT is now out of date." is, once again, purely subjective.  As a matter of fact, a month ago Sony stated it was committed to supporting Other OS on the legacy models:
http://lists.ozlabs.org/pipermail/cbe-oss-dev/2010-February/007202.html

I support SONY for their gaming console, always will.

This sentiment is actually quite scary!  You go right ahead and worship your corporate overlord.  Sony is a faceless, soulless, transnational corporation with no love for customers, simply profit.  You are probably correct though, that Linux users who also use the Playstation Network are probably a miniscule minority.  Whether Sony's behavior is legal or not, I'm sure they have nothing to fear from us.

As a member of the super-majority I'm sure it's easy to tell the minority to suck it up but one day you'll be the minority; yelling from your little soap box while the majority tells you to suck it up and get back to suckling the teet of Sony.

[zosodk69]

I don't agree that the SLIM and the FAT should be treated any differently.

Accept the FAT was advertised to include Other OS functionality and the SLIM isn't.  They're two different products with two different advertised feature sets.  Fail.

And you're being intellectually dishonest by saying this update is optional.  By declining this update you're no longer able to participate in online gaming.  You're unable to watch future bluray titles which may require a firmware update.  You're unable to play games that mandate the new firmware.  Fail.

This isn't unique to this board, I'm seeing this sentiment all over the Internet!  I find it shocking that people are so anxious to rush to Sony's defense.  These are likely the same people that walk around with brand names written in big letters on their cloths.  The same people who put Apple[TM] bumper stickers on their car.  "It's OK for Sony to do this, just buy a second PS3!"  Buy a second PS3?  REALLY???

The only people defending Sony's bad behavior are those unaffected.

[zosodk69]

aka http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392

This was EXACTLY what came to my head after reading scuzzb494's post, I just didn't know the author.  Well done!