Linux on PS3
Recently I installed 2 different distros of Linux on my 80 Gig model PS3 (Christmas 2007) . Both Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) and the community favorite Ubuntu take a long time to install (almost 1hr) and then don't perform very well. They feel slugish, like running Windows XP on and 133 MHz Pentium II laptop. From other articles online and comments to them, I get the impression developers feel they could make the both work way better if Sony changed the "Other OS" feature of the PS3 Game OS to allow them more access to memory and processor features. Hopefully that means we'll see great improvements soon.
YDL is definitely the one to use. IBM makes the CELL processor and they endorse it. It has decent screen resolution using HDMI to my 40" Samsung LCD HDTV (1080P). The fonts are not well tuned for a digital display currently, so even though the resolution is high, the words look a little unclear.
Ubuntu (7.10) only offers the screen resolution of 573x something. In case you don't know, that's like a widescreen version of a standard definition TV, or put another way, it's like running windows back in the 1990's on a 14" monitor. I've read that the Ubuntu community is working on it, so the next release should improve the display options.
Able
Comments
What about Fedora?
Don't you think it's important to try out Fedora? It's the distro of choice for them that love Redhat, which is really the distro that put Linux on the map?
Link to Fedora's PS3 page
Here's the link for those who want to give Fedora a try.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PlayStation/
And directly to their Ps3ReSpin release with directions:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PlayStation/Ps3ReSpin
This seems like it might be a little more involved than just inserting an install DVD and rebooting the PS3 to the "Other OS" and following the installer's prompts.
Able