New to Forums, what are the benifits to installing Linux?

[Moravian]

Just joined today. Forgive me if this is a stupid question but what are the benifits to installing Linux to a PS3? And is one build or type of Linux better than the other for diferent applications?

[oobuk]

Not a stupid question at all. I think the answer is different for different people.

I have a 60gig which handles PS2 games very well too. So, for me, the benefit is that rather than have a PS2 and a PS3 and a surfing type of computer and a dolby dvd player, I have ONE nice looking box that plays PS2 and PS3 games, surfs the net, plays mpegs and DVDs (as well as B-DVDs) feeding surround sound out to my sound system, I can fool around with Linux games and if I get a brain fart for an application or applet or even something literary to write I can start up Eclipse or OO Writer in Linux and write a few lines.

So, for 600bux USD I got a pretty good deal and around 40% less wires all over the place. Not a screamer as far as a workstation goes, but it will do one or two tasks at a time decently with a lightweight web application server in the background if I want to do some casual work. Oh, and sometimes I run it in PiP mode doing basic security testing for a customer or a remote application (totally legit and requested) while I watch TV.

Those are my reasons, and I know others here have different reasons including the possiblity of running MAME.

But one thing in common is it gives you consolidation of devices and it looks good and removes clutter in a living room.

Oh, and if you want to learn about the different flavors of Linux and, hopefully soon, a PS3 BSD variant (which I think I might prefer). It's pretty hard to trash or hurt a PS3 with Linux.

Two things I would like that I haven't figure out (or if it is doable):

1) I would like it if the Linux state could go to a hibernate position of where its at so when I boot back to game os and then back to PS3 Linux OS I don't have to wait as long to get to where I was.

2) I would like to be able to disk image the state of my PS3 Linux installation to a USB hard drive so if I hosed it with my endless tweaking I could return to an installation state I was happy with.

[uncholowapo]

Just joined today. Forgive me if this is a stupid question but what are the benifits to installing Linux to a PS3? And is one build or type of Linux better than the other for diferent applications?

There are benefits all around. If you don't have a PC this would be a great alternative. It comes with a browser, office tools, and much more. You could develope programs meant for the Cell Processor using the included Cell SDK. You can turn it into a web server using the included tools too. One cool thing is that you can run emulators and have the PS3 Sixaxis run on linux without confuguring it like in windows. There is a whole list that I just don't want to write because it will take me atleast a month to do it all.

Not a stupid question at all. I think the answer is different for different people.

I have a 60gig which handles PS2 games very well too. So, for me, the benefit is that rather than have a PS2 and a PS3 and a surfing type of computer and a dolby dvd player, I have ONE nice looking box that plays PS2 and PS3 games, surfs the net, plays mpegs and DVDs (as well as B-DVDs) feeding surround sound out to my sound system, I can fool around with Linux games and if I get a brain fart for an application or applet or even something literary to write I can start up Eclipse or OO Writer in Linux and write a few lines.

So, for 600bux USD I got a pretty good deal and around 40% less wires all over the place. Not a screamer as far as a workstation goes, but it will do one or two tasks at a time decently with a lightweight web application server in the background if I want to do some casual work. Oh, and sometimes I run it in PiP mode doing basic security testing for a customer or a remote application (totally legit and requested) while I watch TV.

Those are my reasons, and I know others here have different reasons including the possiblity of running MAME.

But one thing in common is it gives you consolidation of devices and it looks good and removes clutter in a living room.

Oh, and if you want to learn about the different flavors of Linux and, hopefully soon, a PS3 BSD variant (which I think I might prefer). It's pretty hard to trash or hurt a PS3 with Linux.

Two things I would like that I haven't figure out (or if it is doable):

1) I would like it if the Linux state could go to a hibernate position of where its at so when I boot back to game os and then back to PS3 Linux OS I don't have to wait as long to get to where I was.

2) I would like to be able to disk image the state of my PS3 Linux installation to a USB hard drive so if I hosed it with my endless tweaking I could return to an installation state I was happy with.

1) I want that too.

2) There is a utility called tar that you can use to backup your whole install to an external drive. Look [Please register to see this link. ] for more information.