I bought a PS3... to use as my main Computer
 

I broke down and Bought a PS3 at wal-mart this morning.. came with 100 wal-mart gift card.. i used that to buy another controller and GTA IV..

My plan is to turn the PS3 into my Main Computer... Mostly for surfing, Some music, and SSH sessions into web servers.

Im going to start with suse ( http://en.opensuse.org/Playstation) .. and if I dont like that then move on to fedora/ubuntu ( psubuntu.com )

Anyone explored this route?

good luck....I've heard some horror stories.

make sure you back up your hard drive.

Really easy to do if you've installed linux on a computer before. Backup the HD before you do it. If you don't you'll lose everything on it. I've been gentoo on mine. The only issue is that it can be somewhat irritating to switch back and forth between the PS3 and linux.

did you get the Metal Gear Solid Bundle? Or the 40Gig?

I got the 40Gb Because of the $100 Wal-Mart Gift Gard that I got with with it..

So i turned around and used the Gift Card for a DS3 Controller and GTA IV

I have nothing on the HDD as I just bought it so Im not worried about it..

I am a Linux web server admin currently so I have done my fair share of Linux Installs etc..

Suse is burning now but I think i will go Yellow Dog next if there is any problems

The PS3 is amazing. I never had much interest until the giftcard deal came out last week. I probably won't do a linux install, as it meets most of my needs without it. It's a blueray player, it upconverts regular DVDs very nicely, it plays music and games (of course), and it has a built-in browser to go with its wireless connection. I hooked mine up to our new 46" Samsung and it looks awesome. It works really well as a total media center.

hmm 100 dollar gift card huh. I might have to break down and get one.

wish that gift card was good for just going to Walmart with rather than only for online purchases. I would rather use it for groceries myself.

The PS3 would only be my bluray player anyway.

I'm pretty sure that if you buy the PS3 in-store, the giftcard is usable in store.

Yes it was... I used my giftcard in the store to buy a DS3 Controller and GTA IV!!!! FTW!

Linux has been installed but I have to fine tweak it a bit..but suse is going good so far.. I may have to rebuild the kernal to enable wireless support, but thats not a big concern for me right now.

FTR...

Installing Suse was a Breeze simple and straight forward

No problems

I've always wondered how to do this. I've heard you can easily put linux on there. All I really want to do is be able to surf the internet more easily, download songs and videos possibly, and utilize other computer functions more easily. I know there is a PS3 web browser but it doesn't really work the best.

I'd pay someone 30 dollars if they came to my house and put it on there. I'm too reeruned to know how to do it, and too lazy to try

Ahhh, I just assumed the deal was only an online deal. When does it end?

Interesting fact we learned about the 40Gb AFTER buying it. You can't play PS2 games on it. We came so close to buying some used PS2 games on our way home. Glad we decided not to.

While I'm not using mine as my main computer, it's nice to have the wireless internet here. We got the bluetooth keyboard. Runs really slow, and we don't have Java. Good for VERY basic surfing so far.