Iconic PlayStation hacker and homebrew developer Andy ‘TheFlow0’ Nguyen has abandoned the ongoing PS5 Linux project due to the rise of AI vibe-coders in open-source spaces.
Nguyen, who famously created the first kernel exploit for the PlayStation Vita, has spent over a decade creating exploits and homebrew for PlayStation systems. As one of the leaders behind the ongoing PS5 Linux project, which brought modern PC gaming to the console, the developer was also bringing the full Linux OS experience to Sony’s PS5 with miraculous results.
In an update on social media, the modder announced that they would be “stepping away from the PS5 scene” as well as ending their work on PS5 Linux. “After pouring my heart and months of my life into it, including plans to finish PS5 Pro support and release in 2027, it’s all down the sink,” they said.
Nguyen, like many other homebrew developers recently, explained that they are ending the project due to the rise of AI vibe-coders in open-source spaces. Recently, brilliant PlayStation 3 emulator RPCS3 announced a ban on vibe coding participants due to the fact that vibe-coders in open-source spaces are submitting code that they do not actually understand.
In Nguyen’s words, “the scene used to be a group of highly talented researchers, but now it is just a bunch of noobs using LLMs and writing hacks they don’t even understand”. Additionally, it seems that vibe-coders, or “slop kiddies” as the modder dubbed them, used AI to detect a bug that they were using to crack consoles, and reported it to Sony for a bounty.
“Slop kiddies found the only hypervisor bug left, which I had also found a while ago, and decided to report to Sony,” the modder said on social media. “I asked them to at least wait for GTA 6 to come out so that people would have the opportunity to legally purchase the game and also enjoy linux. They agreed to wait, but not a day passed and they decided to waste it instead.”
With this in mind, it seems that the progress on PS5 Linux for consoles on newer OS versions may have been ruined by the reporting of this bug. This means that the last version of PS5 Linux to be helmed by the modder is the currently available Version 2.5 which supports PS5 Phat and Slim console running 3.00-7.61 firmwares.
The little bastards are everywhere, ruining everything they touch. They got into LLMs and beat even learned programmers for pure instant gratification.
I thank him for his service. I remember waiting. I remember his name! Good programmers are angels
Final straw. PS5 going on local marketplace, order for a steambox comming up.
Such a shame to lose great developers to this bs, and those slop kiddies don’t even think rationally about anything they push into a project and the weight it carries, heck they don’t even think.
LLMs are probably a small part of why I’ve lost some interest in programming the last year or so, time and lack of good hardware being the large ones. idk, there’s no good programming deep dives or material, everything is “how I (99% using an LLM) made this amazing thing”, “don’t do this, use an LLM instead!”, “how AI is gonna make everything better/worse”, AI this, AI that, I’m so fucking tired.
Hacker News, even though it is a hole for elitist idiots, had some interesting articles surrounding software I liked to read, nowadays it’s all just AI bs content, models, AI did this, and whatever.
AI this, AI that
I had a coworker a few months ago who “taught” me how to get more accurate output from Copilot by cloning into an “agent hub”, which is a repository of .agent.md files, and instruct it to load a bunch a “skills”, and apparently involves fiddling a bunch of options in VS Code settings.
“Slop kiddies” is a great term. Everytime I hear a non-native eng speaker proudly say they do vibe coding I cringe a little
I cringe anytime anyone says it
WHat being non-native speaker has to do with vibe coding?
Guessing they just don’t understand the stigma the term has and seem proud to be a vibecoder
My bad I was actually thinking of non-English discussions AFK, I guess I wonder if they know the meaning even more, and it’s weird that they already feel cool just by using an English expression
LLM ruin another masterpiece.
o7
We lost a good one today, comrades.
Also:
PS5 Phat
Weird typo. (In the original article, not a mistake by OP or anything.)
I have seen the OG (not slim) version of playstations called “Phat” since the PS2. I don’t think it was a typo at all, you just weren’t familiar with the usage.
You can say both, back in the PS2 era people called the big one also the PHAT model. I don’t know if it has a specific meaning, though.
Well, I was previously tempted by a PS5 and it does run pretty hot sometimes.
I’ve heard the term “PS(?) Phat” since the PS2, but I’ve only heard it. I always thought it was PS2 Fat. As in, the fat one. Phat, especially since PS2 days are the same time period that Phat as slang was being used, always meant “A woman with curves”. Today Thicc has replaced Phat.
So wait, this entire time, I’ve been saying that my Playstation is a sexy woman?
We don’t even use AI at work but it surprises me the amount of systems programmers using compiled languages don’t even know how to check the assembly to ensure their routines are efficient
I can understand his frustration but not everyone cares at the same level
