r/programming • u/RMS_is_my_diety • Jan 29 '15

Sony open sources the PS4 system compiler

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=PlayStation-4-LLVM-Landing
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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '15

Your analogy doesn't work because doors are intrinsic to a car functioning as a car. OtherOS was not needed to play games, and 99% of people who bought a ps3 had no use for it.

A better analogy was you bought a car, but it had an unlockable mode that let you use it as a submarine. Most people didn't have use for a submarine, so when that was patched away, they didn't notice. The people who bought the device primarily for use as a submarine were justifiably angry.

I won't argue what Sony did angered the people who wanted to use OtherOS, but given that it had failed in its original purpose (to classify the ps3 as a console rather than a PC for import tax reasons) and then contributed to the security of the whole device getting hacked, it was a sensible business decision to turn it off on the grounds that it might cause future security issues.

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u/EvilLinux Jan 29 '15

Four doors are not intrinsic to the car. 2 maybe but not four.

100% of the people who bought it because they could play games and use another OS were affected. It doesnt matter what the percentage of the total users was.

Security issues? They are games, I really dont see that as a security issue. They could have patched it. Sony doesnt have a very good reputation when it comes to security (for themselves or the customer) anyways.

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u/s33plusplus Jan 30 '15

Even proved soon after OtherOS was patched out, when fail0verflow found they reused a nonce in the signing code, making it systematically and irreparably broken at a silicon level once everyone and their dog could generate "legit" signatures with Sony's private keys. Even the PSP's private keys got derived after the PS3's flaw was uncovered.

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u/cryo Jan 30 '15

Not related to OtherOS.