• rozodru@piefed.world
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      4 hours 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.

    • Björn@swg-empire.de
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      6 hours 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
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        5 hours 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
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          3 hours 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
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          4 hours 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.

          • Septimaeus@infosec.pub
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            22 minutes ago

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

        • Akatsuki Levi@lemmy.world
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          5 hours 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
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            4 hours 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