Home Gaming Sony Officially Nixes PS3 Linux Support

Sony Officially Nixes PS3 Linux Support

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Ps3Linux

It appears the rumours from last month about Sony dropping Linux support on all PS3 units is true. Just next month Sony will be releasing firmware update 3.12 that’ll kill the system’s ability to install operating systems other than its own.

If you’re one of the 3 people worldwide who actually uses that feature, it might be a good time to back up your files and migrate them to another system.

SCEA’s Senior Director Corporate Communications & Social Media, Patrick Seybold, says feature is being removed "due to security concerns".

He also – and with a straight face -  says that disabling the feature "will help ensure that PS3 owners will continue to have access to the broad range of gaming and entertainment content from SCE and its content partners on a more secure system."  Seems like the move is to combat potential piracy – which is just fine by me.

firmware 3.21 will be an optional update, so you won’t have to install it – unless you intend on playing online, accessing the PSN, or any games of Blu-rays that require the new update.

Sony had – when the PS3 Slim launched without the OtherOs feature – promised that support would never be dropped from the PS3 via firmware update. Looks like they lied.

Source : Playstation blog

Last Updated: March 29, 2010

14 Comments

  1. WitWolfyZA

    March 29, 2010 at 15:21

    cant bother me, as long as they update the browser or give us more codecs they can scrap mine without me wiping off a tear

    Reply

  2. RSA-Ace

    March 29, 2010 at 15:24

    “Firmware 3.21 will be an optional update, so you won’t have to install it – unless you intend on playing online, accessing the PSN, or any games of Blu-rays that require the new update. ”

    All updates are optional in that sense. The previous ‘optional updates’ were the ones that actually allowed you to play onlineaccess the PSN.

    I think what they mean is that you don’t HAVE to update. Which is obvious, if you don’t have internet you won’t even know there is one!

    Reply

  3. Linux user

    March 29, 2010 at 15:31

    I will be furious if they disable this.
    This is THE reason I paid more for one of the old type machines when the slimline came out.
    I must admit, I don’t frequently play online games, but want to play Gran Turismo 5 online in future when the full version comes out.

    Reply

    • WitWolfyZA

      March 29, 2010 at 15:47

      take the alternative option then . get urself an old 80Gb or something and dont update the firmware on that. then ull still have the OS function

      Reply

      • ewie

        March 29, 2010 at 17:41

        And not play any new games as well, as they will update the firmware ?

        Reply

        • WitWolfyZA

          March 30, 2010 at 08:27

          exactly one PS3 purely for Linux and early 2010 games and the other one purely for online gaming.. Easy!

          Reply

  4. philip

    March 29, 2010 at 16:35

    Is everyone in on this or do people actually not realize its an April Fools joke?

    Reply

    • fighthall

      March 29, 2010 at 17:05

      you do know its not april yet?
      plus there is a possible hack to exploit the ps3 and that was using the otheros feature

      Reply

      • philip

        March 29, 2010 at 21:21

        Yes its not april fools but if this is real they will be facing attacks from so many sides. Look at the firmware version 3.15 and this is 3.21. I would bet R1k that this is april fools.

        Reply

        • RSA-Ace

          March 30, 2010 at 06:47

          I’ll be the one to take your money if that’s alright.

          Reply

        • RSA-Ace

          April 1, 2010 at 14:10

          OK so the firmware is out. When should I give you my bank details?

          Reply

  5. Bobby Kotick is the last man standing

    March 29, 2010 at 22:02

    I still don’t understand why you’d want to install linux on your PS3 anyway. To be honest, it’s really a niche affair and one only a small minority will actually do (generally the geeky lot who are currently circle jerking to their action figure collection or hello kitty watch collection).

    It was a good option to have, but it’s hardly sale nor game breaking. Quite frankly, if you really want to use linux, just install it on your PC like the normal nerds.

    There really isn’t much value for the OS on the PS3, and if SONY can keep the console secure and hack proof, that’s better for all of us.

    Reply

    • GougedEye

      March 30, 2010 at 08:26

      You can turn the PS3 into a really nice media player by using Linux. Don’t have to worry about unsupported Codecs etc. And scientific types have used it to cluster multiple PS3s in order to create a budget supercomputer.

      But for the majority, this isn’t a big deal.

      Guess I’m off to check out the new hello kitty watch…..

      Reply

    • WitWolfyZA

      March 30, 2010 at 08:30

      If the PS3 could run windows XP or even 7 smoothly I would’ve been against this.. but guess what? IT CANT!

      Reply

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