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from the imagine-a-beowulf-cluster...oh-never-mind! dept.
Liliputing reports
Hacker group fail0verflow recently showed off a PlayStation 4 running Linux[1] at the Console Hacking 2015 conference, marking the first time someone has managed to install a full-blown, desktop operating system on the game console.
Although others have tinkered with the PS4 in the past, including a Brazilian hacker group that used a Raspberry Pi to break into Sony's Orbis operating system, fail0verflow is the first group to successfully install a full version of Linux on the PS4.
Sony's flagship gaming console has had a tumultuous relationship with the DIY community. The third-generation PlayStation came stock with "OtherOS", which was a feature that allowed users to upload Linux to the operating system, which the company eventually removed.
The PS4 has been much less hacker-friendly in the 2 years since the console launched... at least until now. Fail0verflow took advantage of an exploit found by another hacker earlier this year, which allowed them to get around Sony's content protections.
They fiddled with a WebKit bug discovered by the programmer to trick the browser into freeing the processes from the core of the operating system. This hack essentially turns the PS4 into a fully operational PC.
[...] The group noted that some of the differences between the PS4 operating system and a PC are "crazy" and some are "batshit crazy". Oh, and the Marvell Tech engineers that designed the PS4's southbridge chip were "smoking some really good stuff".
[1] The nugget is an embedded video in an iframe, apparently. Link to the video
(Score: 2) by julian on Sunday January 03 2016, @10:08PM
OK so you install SteamOS (Linux) on your new PS4 and never buy anything else from Sony. What have you gained for yourself?
-You lose access to all PS4 games
-You can't play multiplayer with other PS4 owners (except the tiny minority running Linux, which essentially is equivalent to the current Linux userbase on traditional PCs)
-You can't access Playstation Network
-You're subjected to the, let's be honest with ourselves, inferior performance of Linux compared to what Sony is capable of achieving with their own OS and development tools.
-You'll get no help from Sony supporting your machine when it breaks
You also had to have the time, and not insignificant technical savvy, to install Linux and get it working. Very few people will choose to do this, which is why it's not a threat to Sony's business. I still would like the option, but I know most people don't care, or even understand how, to install an alternative OS on any computing device.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Monday January 04 2016, @05:12AM
You will get steam sales. And that is not just a huge difference - there close to 11k titles that running from anywhere beween 50% to 90% discounted rates. Even if you combined all of your PS4 titles you will be saving more than that by just installing SteamOS.
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Wednesday January 06 2016, @12:32AM
If you are an engineer, you disappoint me!
I have gained for myself exactly what you described -- membership into a very tiny and elite club of people that can complain that no games run well on linux on hardware designed for that very specific purpose.
Mainstream linux has been making great strides in regular x86 hardware (steam OS being one of the chief efforts among them); this helps put things into perspective that there is more to being an elitest than simply having elite hardware. We have to achieve something so cool that it is pointless.
I hope I don't need to provide examples of cool things that have no practical commercial impact.