Linux petitioners want Sony to open up PS3's graphical innards: RSX

Linux petitioners want Sony to open up PS3's graphical innards

So they can play Pong

By Paul Hales: Monday 23 April 2007, 15:08
WHILE THE LINUX community is pretty chuffed that Sony lets them stick
their fave operating system on the PS3 there's one hitch that is
giving them the heebie-jeebies.

Sony provides partitioning tools to allow the console to be dual
booted and to setup a Linux as the one to boot from.

Terrasoft produces a custom distro of Yellow Dog Linux for the
console. and versions of Fedora, Gentoo, an Ubuntu have all be seen
running n the box.

But the Penguinistas have run into the problem that all versions
running on the PS3 have no access to RSX, the Nvidia-sourced GPU.

Access is blocked by the Hypervisor chip so there is no chance of
getting around it without Sony's approval. And, naturally, Sony
doesn't want geeks producing 3D games under Linux and undermining its
investment. It flogs the console in order to make mountains of wonga
on the highly-priced games folk play on it.

"Do they think people will code Gears of War 2 at home?" asks our
Penguin-friendly course, who notes that the actual performance in
Linux is "bloody awful" because of the block.

So now there's a a petition online asking Sony to open up the RSX.
It's here.

Will Sony listen? If it looks like its cash flow would be hit by such
a move then that's highly unlikely, we suggest. But it's worth a shot.
µ

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39112

http://www.petitiononline.com/RSX/petition.html

http://www.petitiononline.com/RSX/petition-sign.html?