• Björn@swg-empire.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      68
      ·
      2 days ago

      You could get an official Linux install on your PlayStation 2. That support was later removed which prompted a class action lawsuit.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        63
        ·
        1 day ago

        The lawsuit was about the PS3 removing the OtherOS feature. Which, while handled poorly, made some sense.

        The system was initially sold at a significant loss, with the software making up for it. The cell architecture made it excellent at distributed processes, so with the OtherOS feature suddenly the cheapest way to build a supercomputer was buying a bunch of PS3s being sold at a loss and linking them together. Any systems built that way were essentially subsidized by Sony.

        What they could have done is have the option to pay to unlock the bootloader for the OtherOS install.

        • grue@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          35
          ·
          edit-2
          1 day ago

          No, what they should’ve done is made Sony eat the losses from its own business screw-up, and send execs to prison for hacking and fraud. Sabotaging people’s property to disable functionality they paid for should’ve been considered a felony violation of the CFAA on a massive scale.

        • Björn@swg-empire.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          1 day ago

          I remember some teacher at school saying that selling something below cost was illegal in Germany. Unfortunately I don’t know if that is true and I never got to ask him about consoles.

          Could have made a huge difference on the console market if enforced.

          • frongt@lemmy.zip
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            14
            ·
            1 day ago

            A quick Google suggests selling at a loss in order to undercut competition is illegal, but selling at a loss to be a loss leader, or as a temporary sale (e.g. to clear inventory) is allowed. And apparently this is why Walmart failed in Germany; undercutting competitors until they go out of business is their primary tactic.

          • Septimaeus@infosec.pub
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            1 day ago

            So German supermarkets can’t sell us €4 rotisserie chickens at a loss just for the foot traffic? Damn.

        • Akatsuki Levi@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          12
          ·
          2 days ago

          It was the PS3 that got support removed, the PS2 Linux support kept around for the entire live, and the Japanese exclusive BB system that the PS2 got is based around it

          • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            1 day ago

            Yeah I believe the PlayStation OS at the time got hacked by another OS that they allowed to be installed… so they said well shit we can’t have nice things. I used to have Yellowdog running on mine

            • toynbee@piefed.social
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              8 hours ago

              I’ve only ever met one person who was familiar with Yellowdog, let alone what yum means.

              • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                2 hours ago

                If I remember correctly yum was the “apt” as in sudo yum install … Should work. Think it stood for yellowdog update (manager?). Unsure.

    • rozodru@piefed.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      34
      ·
      1 day ago

      when Sony released the HDD for the PS2 you could get Linux with it. there was a complete package that came with the Linux dvds, a keyboard, and the 40GB HDD. it was a Playstation 2 branded distro which was a fork of a japanese distro named “Kondara” which was a based on Red Hat. the DE was Window Maker.

      I had it, it was pretty dang good in all honesty. The second disk had a bunch of packages on it in case you didn’t have a decent internet connection. There’s still an community for it today that is still making packages and what have you for it.