[ydl-gen] PS3 is Hacked!

[Derick Centeno]

Hi Rob, my comments follow yours:

On Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:20:56 +1100
Robert Spykerman <robert.spykerman at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 7:09 AM, Kai Staats <kai at overthesun.com> wrote:
> > As a former employee of Fixstars and huge fan of YDL on the PS3, I
> > offer this link with all due respect to both Sony and GeoHot:
> >
> > http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/01/three-years-later-the-ps3-gets-hacked.ars
> 
> Now, I am wondering
> 
> (1) when we will be able to actually run unsigned code on the ps3
> 
That depends on which Linux distributions decide to share and incorporate the
code this fellow generates.  It also depends which open source license he
chooses to utilize.  This choice (whichever it becomes) will lock out or
exclude some Linux distributions as the open source licenses they participate
with may be different from his.

An example of this limitation exists in how the Claws Mail project had to drop
utilizing Clamav from it's project because Clamav utilizes a different open
source license.  The "work around" can only be implemented by individuals who
want to code clamav so that it works within the version of Claws Mail which
they use on their own computer.

In brief as to when the code will be available depends on when he
releases his work and under what open source license.  If you want to have a
clue regarding the variety of open source licenses (and gain a better
understanding of that universe) you can refer here: http://www.opensource.org/


> (2) if (1) is realized, who will rewrite the kernel (and I also would
> say drivers of course) to run on an un-hypervisor-abstracted ps3...

Depending under which open source license the work is finally released as a
variety of projects can participate.  I doubt very much whether Fixstars will
participate though as they have commercial obligations to adhere to.  Then
again what Fixstars does or doesn't choose to do has little to do with what
talented programmers will choose to do on their own anyway, if I was to guess I
would believe that work would appear within Debian Linux and it's variant
Ubuntu first.  Slackware Linux and others may move towards this direction and
others.

Established commercial interests may not offer tools to facilitate this
independent effort as their business obligations would be threatened or prevent
them from participating.  IBM for instance, announced that it ceased Cell
development last December.  So work at a sufficiently sophisticated and useful
level which interests techncially saavy professionals may be slow to develop if
at all, since most will be looking towards where IBM is going as opposed to
Cell projects which IBM has abandoned.

> (3) how easy/practical (1) and in fact (2) actually is...and if it
> will ever actually happen.

Programming for the Cell isn't easy at all.  Decent discussions involving an in
depth consideration of various processors was explored with the YDL Board.  One
such discussion is here:
http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4976

There are other threads.  Just search the thread discussing the PS3 and others
on the YDL Board which may be informative on various informative details.  In
the end, there are very good reasons why IBM is moving towards heterogeneous
multicore systems could look something like the Toshiba SpursEngine as that
design is more effective in terms of producing working and manageable code
quickly, than the Cell has been.
> 
> Sadly. I honestly do not believe all that much will actually happen. I
> hope I am wrong about this.

As usual in high-tech prognostications time will prove which idea or design is
the most practical.  We are reading tea leaves even with the variety
of experiences we may contribute to this or other discussions.  In other words,
unless we are directly involved with one or another project we will have to
wait to observe where the various commercial and open source efforts actually
lead to over time.
> 
> I hope we will have other interesting things to play with soon,
> however. The new out-of-order ARM derivatives from NVIDIA look
> particulary interesting. 

As the Cell is dead as a development project, although it may continue for
sometime development will continue "in the wild" for quite sometime another
reason why commercial entities may not feel comfortable in making contributions
to such efforts.  Work on the Tesla though interesting, if one is looking for
what is available now which is indicative of where IBM is going there is only
one system on the market currently which comes close and is affordable within
the current consumer market -- the Toshiba SpursEngine.  

It was established last year that YDL will not run on the Toshiba SpursEngine.
Also Fixstars announced in December that they are supporting and developing for
homogeneous multicore processors; resources being limited as they are, it is
doubtful they will change their mind. The next question then really is a matter
of determining which Linux will. I did come across a brief mention that the
Debian variant known as Ubuntu will run on it.

All the best...

=========
Refranes/Popular sayings:
The Taino say:No hay mal que por bien no venga.
There is no evil out of which good cannot blossom.
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.fixstars.com/pipermail/yellowdog-general/attachments/20100126/7899fcc5/attachment.bin>