[ydl-gen] Sony sued over removal of Linux support from PS3

[Derick Centeno]

Dear Sam,

First, I'll share a link to a thread on the YDL Board discussing this
same topic:
http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7266&p=38471#p38471

Next, I'll address the points you raised regarding the exploit
created by Geohot by attempting to clarify the background issues.  The
problem is essentially one of perception regarding to whose "right of
property" we are talking about when one creates or purchases any
electronic device.

First a tiny bit of history, Geohot reached fame by creating
software/hardware modifications to the iPhone which allowed consumers
who purchased it to use the full range of it's potential within any
phone service the consumer used.  This was great for the consumer as
in the consumer's view s/he purchased the device to use as s/he saw
fit to service the essential functions valued by the consumer.  There
is also behind this effort (and I'm sure Geohot is quite aware of
this) the older tradition/view regarding the design purpose of Unix
itself which always included the capacity to control every aspect of
hardware; in that period of course these systems were owned by
institutions and government agencies; it was critical for the
Engineering/IT departments of that era to have and maintain full
control.  It was also common practice of that era, which continues
today, for both manufacturers and IT departments share control of
services and systems. 

Technology moved forward such that Linux incorporates, as we know,
many, if not all the features of Unix, which allows anyone to have
control over the hardware a consumer owns.  However, as a society we
have not exactly defined the relationship between an individual
consumer and the manufacturer of the product that consumer
purchased/owns.  Does the consumer have the right to expect the same
control and freedom to implement services the consumer finds
advantageous to the consumer's interests although the manufacturer
may not agree or have originally designed their product to address
that task?  

Apple designed the iPhone to be a tool to be used exclusively with
AT&T expecting consumers to abide by that restriction.  Apple also
years earlier also designed the first Macintosh with only a
floppy drive and without an internal hard drive whose 68000 PowerPC
CPU only could access 128K of RAM. What moved Apple forward then was
the consumer's insistence that more was necessary to meet the
consumer's vision of how to implement Apple's creation.  An argument
supported by the experience of other companies with their respective
consumers is that this trend is not unknown and that a company's
growth is related to how that company responds or addresses the
demands of their consumers. Sometimes there are a convergence of
ideas, services and new products -- sometimes nothing useful happens,
markets change and companies die.

It is not always clear what direction is best, but it is usually
always the case that a series of direct interactions occur
between manufacturers and consumers.  There is a clear distinction
and understanding of moving a product towards greater utility
matching how the consumer envisions usage of the manufacturer's
product versus the theft of concepts and inventions.  

If history is any guide of what creates a resolution usually such
convergence is the result of market and technological factors, not
legal maneuvering alone.  Technological and market forces influence
daily reality much faster as a rule.  For instance, last year IBM
announced that no further development on the Cell would occur and
work instead had proceed ahead to a new CPU architecture which
incorporates aspects of the Cell design integrated with Intel.  This
means that exclusively PowerPC based code programming has ended and
has moved to code processed for x86 based systems.  The introduction
of the newer design was evidenced in the Toshiba SpursEngine which
was avaiable in the Qosimo and Leadtek WinFast device which then sold
for $150-$160; the current price for the Leadtek WinFast ranges
between $20-$28.  Access to the Leadtek WinFast requires the Leadtek
SDK which is x86 based source which runs on x86 based Linux which is
offered by the way by Fixstars as well.

What is interesting however is that as advanced beyond the Cell as
the WinFast is, newer CPU architectures will be coming to market very
soon which are even better.  Considering that IBM supplied the Cell
to Microsoft (Xbox), Nintendo (Wii) and Sony (PS3) the new CPU
architecture will be employed by these companies to replace the Cell,
unless of course Sony is forced to stay with an antiquated
architecture.  The new CPU has more varied uses than being relegated
to a game computer, so it should become more prevalent in the
consumer marketplace than the Cell or any PowerPC system ever
achieved.  It will support however only x86 based operating
systems and Linux.

Regarding the question will Geohot's exploit, or any other similarly
illegal violation, be supported by any commercial entity such as
Fixstars - my guess is no.  YDL, nor any of the related family of
products were never haphazard hastily designed hacks which many
exploits tend to be.  Therefore any Linux (maybe Slackware or Debian
or something else) which supports the exploit will not have the
reliability which had been established by the YDL family produced by
TSS or now Fixstars.  

There will be people who don't care one way or the other.  However I
believe Fixstars will very much care as they have a vested interest
in maintaining the pristine name of YDL and related family of
products as high quality product engineering which maintains
dependable functionality.

All the best...


On Sun, 9 May 2010 22:54:52 +1200
Sam Lummis <sam.lummis at gmail.com> wrote:

> I agree to an extent. However I understand from Sonys perspective
> their console was not made as a cheap alternative for Cell
> programmers to use but as a piece of consumer electronics which
> they sell at a loss in order to make money off software and in my
> opinion this allows greater control over their hardware opposed to
> a PC. I initially bought my launch PS3 instead of an Xbox simply
> because it had the OtherOS functionality and I enjoy programming
> and the Linux OS. Essentially I don't feel abused by Sony by the
> update, they'd already taken the functionality out of the new PS3's
> and if I you want to continue using the feature you can simply not
> update to the new feature and you can continue using the old
> firmware along with a proxy to access the PSN if you still use it.
> 
> My question about YDL's continued support is if a relatively easy
> softmod is released at some point if they will exploit the new
> found hardware access?
> 
> 
> On Sat, May 8, 2010 at 2:25 AM, Mike Birlew <wrythen at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> >  I whole heartedly agree with you.  I don't see how anyone on
> > this thread could disagree, yld is why were here.  If they get
> > away with this, I fear as others do, that this will allow a wave
> > of abuse by companies downgrading your product after they have
> > advertised it as something else.  All in the name of Intellectual
> > Property and unconscionable EUA's.  I'm seriously expecting to
> > see a "power of attorney" clause in one of these someday.
> >
> >
> > On Sat, May 1, 2010 at 4:46 PM, Mike Erwin
> > <significant.bit at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> >> Normally I wish people well... but I hope Sony has to pay for
> >> their bait & switch. The PS3 has been fantastic for games and
> >> movies, but its main appeal (for geeks like me) was as a Cell
> >> programming workstation. My army of PowerMacs is no longer
> >> supported, but at least Apple didn't remotely disable them! Or
> >> turn them into iTunes Music Store kiosks. That's essentially
> >> what Sony has done.
> >>
> >> Mike Erwin
> >> musician, naturalist, pixel pusher, hacker extraordinaire
> >>
> >> On Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 6:48 PM, Kai Staats <kai at overthesun.com>
> >> wrote:
> >> > http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/04/playstation-linux/

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