patsu said:
... DeanA (Sony dev) from B3D mentioned that it's non-trivial to write new drivers.
For sure. But I was talking about maintaing the OtherOS on the phats.
patsu said:
4 weeks from scratch ? I don't know... he may still be grappling with the SPU local store and b*tching at the same time. The browser needs to run in-game (i.e., small) and fast. It supports JavaScript and Flash. Even open source Flash on PC is not so hot after so many years.
Not entirely from scratch, but also with the help of open-source. Up to my point
of view a GameOS browers can run out of the PPU pretty fast if done right. Have
you ever tried Opera on PS3Linux?
It blows the hell out of the GameOS browser as
well as Firefox on PS3Linux by a very huge amount. That is to say, the
performance of the GameOS browser is inferior. And there is more, Opera does
only run from the PPU. I'm aware that the GameOS browser uses an SPE to decode
flash videos. But let me tell you that the GameOS's flash implementation (which
is buggy without end) doesn't even support HD videos. And an SD youtube video
runs pretty well on the PPU alone. Currenlty, I have vlc running to re-route
flash videos in firefox and it does pretty fine while a whole linux and stuff is
running in the background. Putting mplayer underneath would even allow to play
videos up to 720p in a browser without even touching a single SPE.
I don't really see a need to have a GameOS browser entirely running on the
GameOS-SPE just to be able to call it in-game. Before thinking about an in-game
browser Sony should bring cross-game chat to the table.
What I don't get is the following; why isn't there a fully-fledged browser on
the PS3? A browser implemented as a native application just like the PSN store
or F@H client that uses all the capabilities of the PS3 to present the internet
to the user as it should be? In my book, a proper browser is an integral
component of Playstation 3. Is it really that difficult to do? We are now three
years into PS3, but the browser is still sh!t. So either Sony don't wanna have
a good one or the people who are responsible for the current GameOS browser
have no skill.
charlequin said:
... One thing I'd like to note is that one thing that's really sad about OtherOS being removed is that I believed Sony was absolutely, completely taking the right approach to dealing with hacking by including it in the first place -- the more homebrew-style applications the system supports without hacking, the fewer hackers actually have an interest in breaking the system's security to enable the things they want to do. Removing it now means they're buying into the same approach I've criticized so many other companies for -- "we'll stop you by force!" -- when I think welcoming in non-pirate homebrew developers and hobbyist hackers while shutting out pirates is a far superior solution for almost everyone.
Well said. Locking out the OtherOS can turn back on them in a bad way. After
using the OtherOS for three years now, I can say it's good the way it is. Sure,
having the RSX enabled would be cool, but it's not really necessary. The guys
over at cbe-oss-dev did a good job supporting and enhancing PS3Linux.
Thumbs up!
Here is a note of the official PS3Linux maintainer;
Geoff Levand said:
Hi Everyone,
From April 1st, 2010 my work assignment within Sony will
change, and I will longer be assigned to work on PS3-Linux.
After the change I will continue to maintain PS3-Linux,
but as a personal hobby, and not as an effort supported by
Sony Computer Entertainment. ...
This.