Linux for PlayStation 2 (or PS2 Linux) is a kit released by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2002 that allows the PlayStation 2 console to be used as a personal computer. It included a Linux-based operating system, a USB keyboard and mouse, a VGA adapter, a PS2 network adapter (Ethernet only), and a 40 GB hard disk drive (HDD). An 8 MB memory card is required; it must be formatted during installation, erasing all data previously saved on it, though afterwards the remaining space may be used for savegames. It is strongly recommended that a user of Linux for PlayStation 2 have some basic knowledge of Linux before installing and using it, due to the command-line interface for installation.
The official site for the project was closed at the end of October 2009[1] and communities like ps2dev[2] are no longer active.
Distribution
This kit has stopped being officially sold in the US as of 2003 due to the entire allocation of NTSC kits selling out. However, it is still available through some second-hand markets, such as eBay. Some incorrectly[citation needed] speculate that it was used as an attempt to help classify the PS2 as a computer in order to achieve tax exempt status from certain EU taxes that apply to game consoles and not computers (It was the Yabasic included with EU units that was intended to do that).[3] Despite this, Sony lost the case in June 2006. The kit was released in the spirit of the earlier Net Yaroze. PlayStation and Sony ended their support of hobbyist programmers with the support of Linux on the PlayStation 3 being discontinued.
