Came accross this and thought the reasons given were a little strange
Sony draws flak over Linux ban
Sony has invoked the anger of open source and user rights groups with a recent decision regarding Linux on its gaming platforms. ....
.... Sony said that the move was prompted by security worries, arguing that the partitions put the console at risk of damage and data loss. ....
Sony draws flak over Linux ban - V3.co.uk - formerly vnunet.com
Hi Patrick,
I agree - I don't know enough about the PS3 to know if this option is actually valid to start with - I don't play games (not on the computer anyway).
If it is not an April 1st thing (and it's not really that funny), then as you say it smell of Sony using security as an excuse
This is not an April fools joke at all. Sony is going to patch the original PS3's which will remove the "other OS" feature and thus eliminate their ability to run Linux.
The reason I don't like this is because they are removing a "feature" that was sold and touted t end-users when the console came out. Although not many use it, some do and to just take something away from people without any compensation or suitable alternative is just not right in my opinion. But we live in a world where you don't really own anything that you purchase anymore...you just have an ability to use it as somebody else sees fit.
Thank you PP for the clarification - this is then as you say a serious reduction in the system functionality as purchased - Not good for the company image, I suppose as it's a minority feature they assumed that it would go un-noticed. But, no disrespect intended, the Linux supporters although relatively few in numbers are certainly Vocal in defence of their OS.
The best I can see is that there will be a patch to negate Sony's changes at least on those systems which were sold including the functionality
Well when I first had my PS3 i tried out this feature and I have to say I wasn't very impressed...it was slow and cumbersome. The only useful thing you could use it for was a decent web browser in comparison to the inbuilt PS3 one. You were better off just using a normal computer...if you had one. I can see how it would annoy people though because in the early days of the PS3 it was used as a selling feature and something Sony seemed very proud to boast about and to take that feature away now is just plain wrong. Sony's defense is that they are doing it to stop people hacking the PS3 like the one that was just in the news recently.
As to whether or not it is a good thing or bad I really don't know. But, will this hurt Sony's imagine; no not really. Sony has always done things their way so doing this probably won't hurt them. We Geeks know that this is not the way to go, albeit the general public has know idea what this even means.
Blah, this to me would be like if Palm removed DevMode from the Pre. Glad I don't buy Sony stuff.
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