No more Linux support… Who is to blame?

I thought I’d do a little opinionated article this evening seeing that Sony decided to scrap other OS support in the phat model ps3′s. This, as you may well have seen, has caused a lot of anger among the Playstation community, many blaming Sony for “stealing” something they used to market the phat PS3′s in the first place, claiming that Sony have no right to take back what they’ve purchased without some kind of refund. Others however are blaming the hacker they believe to be responsible for Sony removing other OS support for security concerns.
Lets dive into this a little deeper… We’ll look at this from both sides and leave you, the reader to decide who is guilty.

Firstly, Sony, both loved and at many times hated by their fans and loyal followers. Now, Sony did market the PS3 as an all-round entertainment system and charged basically an arm and a leg for it since launch if we’re honest… Now your initial thoughts would obviously be that the PS3 is basically just a gaming console, and that this move shouldn’t bother anyone at all because you never paid your hard earned cash to install another OS other then the “stock” OS and that’s perfectly fine… To be honest, that’s how I feel because I couldn’t give a damn whether I have any OS on my system, I just worry about my gaming and media streaming options. If I want another OS for whatever reason, that is what my pc’s are for, plain and simple, built for that purpose in many senses…
Looking at it that way though would be slightly narrow minded. Why? Well apparently there are users out there who basically just bought the PS3 because it had the option of installing another OS for whatever reason. So you could see it as daylight robbery. In fact, it pretty much is, unless you read the fine print that is. Quoted below, is a section of the terms and conditions we all agree on when upgrading firmware on our consoles.

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From time to time, SCE may provide updates, upgrades or services to your PS3TM system to ensure it is functioning properly in accordance with SCE guidelines or provide you with new offerings. Some services may be provided automatically without notice when you are online, and others may be available to you through SCE’s online network or authorized channels. Without limitation, services may include the provision of the latest update or download of new release that may include security patches, and new or revised settings and features which may prevent access to pirated games, or use of unauthorized hardware or software in connection with the PS3TM system. Some services may change your current settings, cause a loss of data or content, or cause some loss of functionality. It is recommended that you regularly back up any data on the hard disk that is of a type that can be backed up. Other services or content may be made available to you by third parties who may require you to accept their terms and conditions and privacy policy (“Third Party Agreement”). SCE may refer to or provide you with links to websites that third parties independently operate or maintain (“Linked Sites”). SCE and its affiliated companies do not control or direct Linked Sites, nor do SCE and its affiliated companies monitor, approve, endorse, warrant or sponsor any information, conclusions, recommendations, advertisement, products, services or content described on Linked Sites. You acknowledge and agree that SCE and its affiliated companies have no liability to you for the information on the Linked Sites. Your reliance on any such information is at your own risk, and you assume all responsibilities and consequences resulting from your reliance. Please see your user’s manual for information on controlling access to Linked Sites via PS3TM system’s parental control. Notwithstanding any provision of any terms and conditions, in the event of any conflict between this Agreement and the Third Party Agreement, this Agreement shall control as between you and SCE. Source

Now lets take a look from the hackers point of view… Sure, it might sound appealing to have such an expensive tool “unlocked” so to speak, but we all know what these type of things are REALLY about. I can see many excuses being made, such as that from the hacker himself as seen in his blog. Lets not fool anyone though, we can’t blame a home owner for locking their doors at night to protect themselves from thieves can we? This is the same principle. My comparison might be taking it to extreme lengths, but this is how Sony would feel.

In my honest opinion, Sony can’t be held responsible for their decision to drop the other OS function. Some may say it had nothing to do with the hack as the slim was the first step into removing the other OS feature. That is not true, otherwise they’d have done this in the FW update when the slim was launched. This was clearly as a result of security concerns. I can understand the fury of those who bought their PS3 for the use of another OS, but we shouldn’t be blaming Sony for protecting themselves and keeping the PS3 as a going concern. This is the same old saying that it takes but just a few people to ruin the experience for 99.9% of all other users. PC gamers have sat with this problem for ages where games are made ridiculously hard to install with various counter-piracy measures, and I commend Sony for keeping us clear from that.

However these are just my thoughts… What are yours? Do you think you deserve a partial refund? Do you think Sony are being unethical? Or do you just think hackers deserve to be on the firing line for ruining the experience for everyone else by sticking their nose in where it doesn’t belong?