By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer
SAN JOSE, Calif. (January 30, 2002 9:50 p.m. EST) - The Linux
operating system is coming to Sony's Playstation2, joining Crash
Bandicoot, Madden NFL 2002 and Harry Potter.
Of course Sony's new offering for its videogame console will cater to
a relatively narrow crowd: developers and hobbyists in North America.
The $199 kit, which will be sold on Sony's Web site starting in May,
includes a 40 gigabyte internal hard disk drive, network adapter,
keyboard and mouse, and "Linux (for Playstation2)" Version 1.0 on two
DVDs.
It will not replace home computers, spokeswoman Monica Wik said.
Rather, the kit will run Linux-based software and allow users to
create their own programs that run on the Playstation2's proprietary
system.
Unlike Playstation2 games, Linux will not run on standard televisions.
It will require a high-resolution computer monitor.
A preliminary version of the kit was made available to 7,900
enthusiasts in Japan last July. More than 28,000 people have expressed
interest in the kit to date, according to Sony surveys.
The kit, announced Wednesday at the LinuxWorld show in New York, will
work on PlayStation2 systems bought in North America.
Linux is popular among technical users and operators of servers,
though it has yet to gain much acceptance on desktops as a substitute
for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.
Unlike Windows, Linux is freely distributed and developed by
programmers scattered around the world. Because of its low cost and
relative stability, Linux also has been gaining some acceptance in
consumer devices, including the TiVo digital video recorder.
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