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Why 'notorious'? Is there anything wrong with the way they are using BSD?
by Narishma 5y ago
Why 'notorious'? Is there anything wrong with the way they are using BSD?
- Fnoord 5y agoI guess because of the Linux PS3 debacle. See the OtherOS entry on Wikipedia [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OtherOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OtherOS
- Narishma 5y agoI can't see what that has to do with Sony's use of FreeBSD as the base of their console operating systems.
- smoldesu 5y agoI mean, it is definitely germane. Microsoft has always written their own software for their consoles, and Nintendo's history making console firmware is so complicated that they may as well just write it themselves. Building a mass-market console using off-the-shelf components and free software is a little more common now (See: Nintendo Switch running Android on an Nvidia Tegra), but Sony was really the first major console manufacturer to do it. The "notoriety" portion comes from the OtherOS side of things, as the other commenter mentioned. In the PS2 era, you could order a kit from Sony containing all of the software/hardware you needed to turn your PS2 into a reasonably capable Linux machine. To make a long story short, licensing is always a concern and it blew back in Sony's face. The whole "Linux on Playstation" thing is a blemish on Sony's reputation, and it's why a lot of people call Sony the "biggest offender" license abuse.
- DanBC 5y agoSome people really dislike the permissive licence used by FreeBSD. They see large companies, such as Sony, using FreeBSD and they wonder whether any useful code, hardware, or cash are sent to FreeBSD as a result. It can feel to some people as "unfair", perhaps even exploitative. It's interesting to see the culture clash between different licensing philosophies.