Linux Community Magazine

When installing a linux distro on your PS3. Your options aren't as open as they would be if you were installing on your home computer. Linux platforms have to be "ported" over to harness the power of all 8 processors. No I'm not exaggerating, A PS3 really does have 8 processors working to power it!So what are your options for PS3 Linux Distributions:First up is Ubuntu. This one is usually a house hold name for nerds and is even known outside of IRC channels nowadays. Right up to release 9.10 have been made available to PS3 users. If your a complete newbie with technology, then ubuntu is probably the logical place to begin. It comes pre-packaged with things like Open-Office (Word, Excel etc), Mozilla Firefox, Pidgin (MSN, AIM) etc. So its able to be run straight out of the box. Your next option is Yellow Dog Linux. Yellow Dog Linux was one of the first (Infact I'm pretty sure it may have been THE first) linux distro's to be available for PS3. Be aware that the PS3 version i s specially designed to run on HDTV so if you are just running a standard TV. You will have to use the commands 'installtext' and 'ydl480i' to get yourself going. Much like ubuntu, this ps3 linux distro comes pre-packaged with many home comforts that you would find on your own home PC. Your last two options (For now) are OpenSUSE and Fedora. If anything, i would recommend keeping away from these two for now. Fedora may be great if you want to try some high powered stuff (Webserver etc) on your PS3. But other then that they can sometimes be a pain to get running perfectly on your PS3. Up Fedora 7 - 9 all have issues with either hard-disks or USB ports, so never use those. Like most things in technology, the PS3 Linux family keeps on growing and maybe even by the time you read this, there will be even more PS3 linux distribution choices out there. But in all honesty, it my mind it will always be down to Ubuntu or Yellow Dog.