Thanks to HELIOS Software and its modified Yellow Dog Linux, it's now possible to use the PS3 as a server. For the price of US$600, small enterprises can now avail of a server with powerful processors and capable HD space just by downloading free software.

Sounds good, right? Not for Sony. It's already a commonly known fact that Sony is losing money for every unit sold. What's keeping them in the fight is the income they can get from games purchased for the PlayStation 3.

Imagine: 1 million PS3 units are being used as servers. That much units would lose profitability because companies using them are not likely to buy games; all the while, Sony loses US$ 250 for every one of those units sold. Count 'em all: US$ 250 million in total.

More PS3s not used for gaming purposes would also put third-party publishers in a bind. If Sony cannot determine how many PS3s are being used as servers, publishers would think twice before investing US$ 20 million in a game that will be released on a platform which installed user-base is uncertain.

People used to wonder what Ken Kutaragi meant back then when he said the PS3 is not just a gaming console. Looks like we've found our answer right here. The PS3 is also a good server machine.

Have you ever heard of the PlayStation 3 OS? If not, then today is your lucky day, as we have tons of information for you on it. HELIOS Software GmbH has entered into a basic agreement with Terra Soft Solutions, and has now released a free download of its modified Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) software. This one's optimized to use Sony's PlayStation 3 as a test-drive server.

So, let's get on to the matter at hand. This stripped down version of YDL provides a lightweight, overhead server environment for the PS3, while giving you a test-drive platform for the file, print, PDF and image server software of the next-gen.

The HELIOS package will come via a CD disk image, which reportedly takes a total of six minutes to install. Apart from that, it's guaranteed to give you a high performance Linux server OS complete with DHCP network settings, support for Java 1.5 and Apple Talk enhanced kernel.

To give you a rundown of what advantages you may very well expect from the HELIOS PS3 Linux installation:

• Free download from HELIOS web site
• Easy installation, ready to run in a few minutes
• Excellent Linux on PS3 documentation from HELIOS
• Dedicated server operating system with optimized performance (40% more memory available)
• Java 1.5 runtime is pre-installed
• Easy maintenance shell from CD
• HELIOS services are pre-installed as a test-drive

Anyhow, to learn more about it, we suggest you check out the Terra Soft Solution website via our Read link below, along with the video presentation.