[ydl-gen] Response of Fixstars to end of ps3 otheros

Kai Staats kstaats at us.fixstars.com
Thu Aug 27 15:39:15 MDT 2009


> In the cbe-oss-dev ml Geoff stated that they would continue to support
> Linux in the old models, so my question is: if they are already paying
> people to work on it, where is the added cost of allowing the new models to
> install them? Is the new hardware that different and they would have to
> work a lot on it? They don't want more people finding bugs so they don't
> have to hire more staff?

Sony was quite diligent about testing, and with each new rev of the GameOS 
(which acts as the hypervisor for Linux) there was a battery of tests. Often 
the GameOS had to be modified to support things which otherwise broke in 
Linux, so it is not a one-way street. GameOS affects Linux, and Linux affects 
GameOS.

If a component on the mobo changed, the hypervisor code would change to 
support the new component, and then the testing starts again.

While I am not aware of a time when the GameOS was modified to correct 
something we discovered to be broken in Linux, I can state that with nearly 
every third release of updated GameOS versions, something broke in Linux for 
which we compensated on our end, often with the assistance of Geoff (who was 
great to work with, BTW).

Sincerely,
kai


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