[PHORONIX] Sony's PlayStation 4 Is Running Modified FreeBSD 9

kpedersen said:
Perhaps we should replace Beastie with @DutchDaemon ;)
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He already has his monument in the system binaries ;) If that is not enough, we may vote to dedicate one release to him.

DutchDaemon said:
I am copyrighted.
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What licence? :D
 
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If this news is true this is really interesting. It's just sad it doesn't mean I can't turn my computer into a PS4 and play all the latest shiny games directly on FreeBSD!
 
D4rkSilver said:
If this news is true this is really interesting. It's just sad it doesn't mean I can't turn my computer into a PS4 and play all the latest shiny games directly on FreeBSD!
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... or that you can use a PS4 as a server/desktop by installing FreeBSD on it.
 
D4rkSilver said:
If this news is true this is really interesting. It's just sad it doesn't mean I can't turn my computer into a PS4 and play all the latest shiny games directly on FreeBSD!
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This will never happen in a supported manner and will never be endorsed by any console vendor.

The entire point of consoles is that they can closely control the hardware the games run on so that there's a specific platform to target, which ensures the game developer can optimize appropriately, have one set of hardware to debug on, etc.
 
Tivoization anyone?

Rather than have Sony give back code or software, why don't they give back a portion of their profits to the FreeBSD Foundation? After all, they need continued improvements in the base OS. That is if they are running FreeBSD under the hood. As someone stated earlier, it's just some pictures with some lines of text.
 
I don't think the TiVo example applies to this case in any way. The license actively encourages what Sony is doing with PS4 and there are no grounds to claim that Sony is "stealing" anything or exploiting a weakness in the license. Also I don't understand how the closed source nature of PD4 actually limit's anyone's freedom (that was the major point in the TiVo vs. GPL debate and IMO it's total horseshit). You may have a freedom of speech and freedom of choise but that doesn't mean you have a right to put your nose into something that isn't your business and claim that it has to be opened up for everyone to see if it's something that does not meet your moral standards.
 
I think it does apply in that Sony does not want Tivoization to happen to them, not that Tivoization will happen to the PS4. As with any large corporation, there were meetings and research before deciding what OS to use, the license of that OS, and the license they will use for their hardware and software. I believe Tivo was mentioned during one of those meetings and played a part in the decision making process. What company wants to be the next Stallman example and the basis for the GPL v4?
 
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