So what can I do with PS3's Linux capabilities?


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Ok guys, thanks to the recent price cut of the 360, I've been seriously considering getting a PS3. Before you all get confused, what I mean is that Sony will almost certainly have their own price cut and when the 80Gb MGS4 bundle comes out, it'd be a worthwhile deal (backwards compatibility is important to me, I never owned a PS2, even if it IS crippled).

Unfortunately, there's not that many great exclusive games (that interest me) coming to the PS3 for me to justify buying one on that basis alone.

I also own a 360 already, so any media sharing capabilities are also a bit useless to me.

I am, however, a complete geek. And I know you can install Linux on the PS3 (even though that's somewhat crippled as well), so what exactly can I do with this?

I mean, I'd like to run the PS3 as a webserver, that'd be quite cool and handy for me, but is it easy to do? And is it fast enough? What about a CSS server or whatever, is that possible/doable?

Is there anything else that could justify my purchase?

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Hmm. Why is backwards compatibility important if you don't have any PS2 games? As you have said, you already own a 360 for all your media sharing so a PS3 is not going to benefit you in that respect. What games do you like? Are you sure the PS3 exclusives don't interest you? Uncharted is an amazing game for example.

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There are a few exclusives that interest me, but not enough to make me spend ?250+ (I know it's more expensive than that, but I can get it for that price if I really want), uncharted is one, MGS4 is another. Haze MAYBE, same for FFXIII. Blu-ray is nice, I suppose, but I don't buy many films (and when I do, it's because they're going cheap - i.e. Alien Quadrilogy for ?9.99, few worthwhile Blu-Ray titles will be at those kind of prices for quite a while).

The reason PS2 compatibility is important to me is because I never owned a PS2, there's a bunch of PS2 games I would like to go back and play because I missed out on them the first time around, but I don't see the sense in paying ?50 for a PS2 when I could just get a PS3 and get the best of both.

Really the games aren't my main interest, it's more the other things I can do with the PS3 while I'm waiting for the few exclusives that I really want to come out on it.

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There's a rumour that it is, but even if it doesn't I'll happily import a Japanese console (The 40Gb ones are going for ?215 right now).

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There's a rumour that it is, but even if it doesn't I'll happily import a Japanese console (The 40Gb ones are going for ?215 right now).

Fair enough, you'll probably be better off importing one anyway as there is no way an 80GB would sell for less then ?300 here.

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what can you do with a ps3?

throw it in the bin and play on ur xbox :D

till it RROD's

thanks for the input though

PS3 has a bright future, not entirely sure about its webserver capabilities, but with the ability to use linux then why not. You also have other aspects like a music player, great upscaling dvd player, low failure rate, divx compatibility, web browser, keyboard and mouse compatibility within PS3 OS.

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Exactly. Importing isn't really a problem, I'm fortunate enough to know people the world over that could buy it and ship it to me, assuming I don't want to use a site like play-asia.

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That's why I'm asking what else I can do with it, surely people have created some nifty programs and apps that make use of the PS3?

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So you're not interested in many PS3 exclusives, you already have an xbox and no PS2...

Why bother then?... save your money and just buy some games.

Running a PS3 as a webserver is nothing but a hack, the drive is too slow, there's not much RAM and the PS3 itself consumes a lot of energy. You could buy a computer with $400 that does that much better.

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You know, you guys aren't doing a great job of selling the console...

So is it really that bad? Is the whole PS3Linux thing just a big fad that actually means nothing? (I'm not being rhetorical, I'm genuinely asking this).

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I don't think that the reply's are meant to be so negative. It's just you've asked about what you want, what you already have, and what you can do. Based on that information. Sticking with your 360 and getting a cheap(ish) PC for you're web server will be a better option for you.

I personally think the PS3 is awesome and it does everything I want it too but then my needs/wants are different to yours. I wanted BD, gaming, backwards compat (hence why I have an original UK 60GB), Hi-Def, media capability and have no reason for Linux (but there is the option). The PS3 for me is the best piece of electronics I've spent my money on recently.

Edited by kraized
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That's why I'm asking what else I can do with it, surely people have created some nifty programs and apps that make use of the PS3?

As I said, there's Folding@Home and maybe some other distributed computing projects. That's about it. Anything you could possibly want to do can be done on a regular computer.

The big thing about the PS3 is the Cell processor, but that's only useful if you're going to be doing heavy processing. There's really no point in trying to do other tasks on it. The Linux thing is cool, I suppose, but are you really going to use it with a gaming controller? No... you're going to want to use a mouse and keyboard, which... is what a regular computer would have. Really, I think it's just a novelty. It's cool and all, but just not that useful.

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Hmm. Why is backwards compatibility important if you don't have any PS2 games? As you have said, you already own a 360 for all your media sharing so a PS3 is not going to benefit you in that respect. What games do you like? Are you sure the PS3 exclusives don't interest you? Uncharted is an amazing game for example.

Yeah it will ;)

Only one of the consoles that can do HD playback (mkvs) without transcoding and WITH 5.1 DTS.

360 can only do video or sound, not both.

It also has subtitle support now.

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Yeah it will ;)

Only one of the consoles that can do HD playback (mkvs) without transcoding and WITH 5.1 DTS.

360 can only do video or sound, not both.

It also has subtitle support now.

True, point taken. But the OP doesn't want to play movies or anything media related on the PS3.

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You know, you guys aren't doing a great job of selling the console...

So is it really that bad? Is the whole PS3Linux thing just a big fad that actually means nothing? (I'm not being rhetorical, I'm genuinely asking this).

Really the main attraction to the console in terms of not playing games, IMO really is the media server, Linux or Home.

The PS3 is the best media server out there. XMB goes really well with movies, it has superior codec and HD support (minus WMV-HD, but really, who on earth encodes in that?).

Add a customizable hard drive, and that's another reason its the best media server - Unless you plan on streaming only.

Plus the PS3 is quieter than the 360 for movie playback - A personal gripe of mine, I'll play games on my 360, but when it comes to movies I don't touch it.

As for Linux I don't know much, apart from you can install a version of linux and run the apps you would normally - Keyboard and mouse support makes this more user friendly/attractive.

I just have no experience with linux, hence haven't tried it.

Home apart from game interaction will be a massive social time waster - Just like myspace/bebo and all those networks. If it's your thing, great it's free, if not, fair enough.

Finally you have exclusive games.

That's it really IMO. Unless you want to talk about other nifty pluses like Folding@Home, PSP remote play, custom themes and what not.

Only thing I'd say is once you buy a PS3, you don't need to invest in anything else (as long as you get the MGS4 bundle with DS3 included). All the hardware and BC is intact, and online play is free.

True, point taken. But the OP doesn't want to play movies or anything media related on the PS3.

Which is fair enough he said that, but im only pointing out things it does BETTER than the 360 for media playback.

So if he does buy a PS3, you'd be pretty nutty in the head not to use the console that does is better :/

All my (or most of it) game playing is done on the 360 just now, and all my movie/tv-show watching is done on the PS3. Lost in HD every week :woot:

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Buy a cheap PC and use it for your webserver, regardless of the PS3's ability, you will not get the efficiency needed with a console meant primarily for gaming or high-end video.

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Buy a cheap PC and use it for your webserver, regardless of the PS3's ability, you will not get the efficiency needed with a console meant primarily for gaming or high-end video.

Maybe a better option.

You can run the PS3 as a webserver though I believe... http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.p...dfa0829463e14ad

PlayStation 3 as Linux Enterprise Server - http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1480.html

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Which is fair enough he said that, but im only pointing out things it does BETTER than the 360 for media playback.

So if he does buy a PS3, you'd be pretty nutty in the head not to use the console that does is better :/

All my (or most of it) game playing is done on the 360 just now, and all my movie/tv-show watching is done on the PS3. Lost in HD every week :woot:

I appreciate that, but I don't really even use the media streaming of the 360, nor do I have a single video file using one of those obscure video formats that they support (such as that MKV you mentioned, or the HD WMV), so it's a bit of a moot point.

You could go on all day about the things the PS3 "does better" than the 360, but if the 360 does them at all then as far as I'm concerned, it's probably not "better" enough to justify the price.

Right now I'm leaning away from buying a PS3 at all. Perhaps I've confused people, though, I didn't mean that I JUST wanted to use it as a web server, that was just an example of what I KNOW I could use it for, but I'm asking for other things I could use it to do as well and if those things could take advantage of the CELL or not. From what people are saying, Linux runs really slowly on it and it's not worth bothering with, is that true? There's no distro out there that can take full advantage of the CELL?

Seems a bit poor if you ask me.

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I appreciate that, but I don't really even use the media streaming of the 360, nor do I have a single video file using one of those obscure video formats that they support (such as that MKV you mentioned, or the HD WMV), so it's a bit of a moot point.

You could go on all day about the things the PS3 "does better" than the 360, but if the 360 does them at all then as far as I'm concerned, it's probably not "better" enough to justify the price.

Right now I'm leaning away from buying a PS3 at all. Perhaps I've confused people, though, I didn't mean that I JUST wanted to use it as a web server, that was just an example of what I KNOW I could use it for, but I'm asking for other things I could use it to do as well and if those things could take advantage of the CELL or not. From what people are saying, Linux runs really slowly on it and it's not worth bothering with, is that true? There's no distro out there that can take full advantage of the CELL?

Seems a bit poor if you ask me.

?

Cmon Kushan it does a lot more than a 360 would with OS support and the likes. What did you think you could do, take over the world?

It supports many distros, and lots of people use it for various things - Maybe reading the Linux forums under specific PS3 sections would help you out more? I know nothing about Linux so im not really the guy to help you there.

I do know that Linux does take full advantage of the cell though, it's just RSX support that is patchy (graphics). The old console emulators for Linux do work though (SNES and the likes).

Maybe starting here would be good? - http://www.psubuntu.com/

As for the media playback, I did say im only pointing it out as if you were to buy a PS3, it would be a disadvantage to yourself not to use the console that does it better.

Oh well I think a fair few good things a PS3 does were mentioned, if you still don't want one fair enough, just not a console for you (N)

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Plus the PS3 is quieter than the 360 for movie playback - A personal gripe of mine, I'll play games on my 360, but when it comes to movies I don't touch it.

Once the PS3 fan turns on there's really no difference. At least with mine. I've always watched DVD's on the xbox instead of the PS3. Same noise but smoother image.

Right now I'm leaning away from buying a PS3 at all. Perhaps I've confused people, though, I didn't mean that I JUST wanted to use it as a web server, that was just an example of what I KNOW I could use it for, but I'm asking for other things I could use it to do as well and if those things could take advantage of the CELL or not. From what people are saying, Linux runs really slowly on it and it's not worth bothering with, is that true? There's no distro out there that can take full advantage of the CELL?

Seems a bit poor if you ask me.

I guess not, the whole thing is virtualized. Then there's just one PPC CPU on the PS3, that's why it's not that fast, add the small amount of RAM and no direct access to the GPU... no Linux supercomputer at all.

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I've already been on that site and it does look to be very helpful in getting linux on the machine, as well as explaining how to install apps and so on, but it doesn't really give me a big list of "This is what the PS3 + Linux can do".

And while I'm sure it does do a lot more than the 360 does, so far nobody in this thread (including yourself) have actually gave it great cause.

I don't care about it's media streaming capabilities, I don't use the 360's so I've got no use for the PS3's.

There's a few select games I am looking forward to, but not enough to justify paying more than what I paid for my 360 (and being perfectly honest, I have a lot more games for my 360 now than I reckon I'd ever have for the PS3). There's a few PS2 games I'd like to go back and play that helps this, but not quite enough. Blu-ray is nice, but not a big interest to me (yet).

Basically, what I'm saying is that all of these things a PS3 can do make me somewhat interested, but they fall short of making me want to pay more than ?250 for one, but if someone here can list a few other things it can do (i.e. with the help of linux), then it might be enough to sway me.

I COULD spend ?250 on a PC box and use that, but then I wouldn't be able to play any PS2/PS3 games, so even that isn't quite justified. Do you see what I'm getting at?

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Once the PS3 fan turns on there's really no difference. At least with mine. I've always watched DVD's on the xbox instead of the PS3. Same noise but smoother image.

I guess not, the whole thing is virtualized. Then there's just one PPC CPU on the PS3, that's why it's not that fast, add the small amount of RAM and no direct access to the GPU... no Linux supercomputer at all.

Fair enough, but you must be in the minority. It makes less noise than when playing a game, watching a movie, but for me it's still much noisier than my PS3.

Personal gripe anyway, im a sound nut as I said in another thread. Even my PC is on lock down with noise :laugh:

DVD scaling on the PS3 is top notch as well, haven't compared them both, but even reviews online say the PS3 is good at it.

I don't know about Linux, but many places ive read tidbits everyone says the PS3 is the closet you'll get to a supercomputer for the pricing with calculation work - NOT graphics, as I said access to RSX is limited, but the linux distros that support the PS3 have access to the cell.

The airforce must have an order in for 300 PS3s for some reason? :laugh:

I've already been on that site and it does look to be very helpful in getting linux on the machine, as well as explaining how to install apps and so on, but it doesn't really give me a big list of "This is what the PS3 + Linux can do".

And while I'm sure it does do a lot more than the 360 does, so far nobody in this thread (including yourself) have actually gave it great cause.

I don't care about it's media streaming capabilities, I don't use the 360's so I've got no use for the PS3's.

There's a few select games I am looking forward to, but not enough to justify paying more than what I paid for my 360 (and being perfectly honest, I have a lot more games for my 360 now than I reckon I'd ever have for the PS3). There's a few PS2 games I'd like to go back and play that helps this, but not quite enough. Blu-ray is nice, but not a big interest to me (yet).

Basically, what I'm saying is that all of these things a PS3 can do make me somewhat interested, but they fall short of making me want to pay more than ?250 for one, but if someone here can list a few other things it can do (i.e. with the help of linux), then it might be enough to sway me.

I COULD spend ?250 on a PC box and use that, but then I wouldn't be able to play any PS2/PS3 games, so even that isn't quite justified. Do you see what I'm getting at?

What im saying is what are you looking for then?

I mean you must be sensible enough to know a console has restrictions - Thats why I said are you expecting to take over the world with it? It wasn't a peronal jab or anything, just a remark born from confusion. The PS3 isn't anywhere near as flexible as an actual PC, but it does go a little further than consoles have previously.

I mean we've covered all bases really,

Linux Support (multiple distros),

Great Media server,

Customizable hard drive,

Wifi built in,

Remote play,

Free online,

Home,

In-game XMB/messaging to come,

KB/Mouse Support,

Blu Ray movies,

BC depending on model,

Marketplace equivalent eventually,

Custom themeing for free,

Finally games obviously - Depending on your tastes, I'd find it hard this generation for anyone to say they couldn't see games they'd want to try on each console. If you like FPS games, both are getting exclusives, both getting exclusive rpgs, and so forth. Halo fans must at least be interested to see what RFOM2 and Killzone 2 produc;);)

What else could you really expect a console to do? To me that is already a big enough list for some people to warrant a purchase over some of the other consoles that do less.

Edited by Audioboxer
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