[advocacy] Sony going for Linux?

Daniel James daniel at mondodesigno.com
Mon Feb 25 02:19:29 PST 2002


> Sony seems to go for Linux.
> Does this mean Ogg multimedia project  can do
> something in it?

There's an obvious angle for sound in games.

> This is quite confusing since Ogg multimedia is
> claiming for freedom while Sony has been interested in
> selling their contents.

I think it's fair to say that the PS2 Linux project isn't as open as 
it could be - I believe there are restrictions on creating bootable 
CD's, for example.
 
> Could Sony give up the
> contents and go for the hardware selling rather than
> the soft?

I understand that consoles are generally sold around cost price, and 
all the profit is on game titles. In the case of the X-Box I believe 
MS is making a substantial loss on each machine sold, so I think MS 
looks more desperate here. If Sony have a rival in this market it is 
the Nintendo Game Cube, according to my game-playing friend.

I expect the idea of the Linux developers kit for the PS2 is to help 
create a Linux DVD, which allows you to do PC-like internet stuff, 
including playing music. For a PS2 without an external hard disk, 
that means playing streamed music only I guess. As it only has 32MB 
RAM (I think), I suppose we should be thinking in terms of PDA-like 
functionality.

Daniel

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