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Linux on PS3 white flag

Sony has offered up a settlement in its long-running Linux-on-PS3 class action, and as many as 10 million owners could be in line for a payout.

When it first shipped, the PlayStation 3 was celebrated by Penguinistas as the first gaming console that could boot up Linux out-of-the-box.

It quickly regretted the decision, because hacker George Hotz used a Linux install (and a soldering iron) to jailbreak the system. Sony shipped a firmware update to remove the "install other OS" option at boot, and that led to the 2010 lawsuit.

Sony's settlement offer [PDF], filed in the District Court of Northern California, is to pay users US$55 if they had used Linux on the console, or $9 if they bought a PS3 intending to use the capability. The offer still has to be vetted by a judge before it goes into effect.

Since the offer was made as the result of a mediation between the parties, that approval looks more or less like a formality. ®

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