Sony has announced it would be dropping "Other OS" support from all non-slim PS3s.

Other OS support refers to Linux which will vanish from machines during a firmware update set to go live April 1st. The Other OS option on the XMB will be removed, although Sony has not said what will happen to the PS3 drive partition.

People choosing not to update will still be able to use their PS3s, but the online functionality will effectively be removed. Sony claims that it is removing Linux support because of security issues.

Gamers do not really need it, but it had given Sony a market among those who were using their console for other purposes. Scientists had been using the Linux function on the PS3 to wire up strings of the consoles to make cheap supercomputers.