The Fanjita Monologues - Homebrew and Hacking
The Fanjita Monologues - Homebrew and HackingA long time ago, on a planet not so far away and rather similar/identical to this one, the PSP was a closed console – capable only of running programs deemed ‘worthy’ (read profitable) to Sony. And then came the hackers... bringing with them swathes of homebrew (non professional) programs allowing the casual user to do everything from playing SNES games to controlling your telly.
These homebrew applications would not be out there if it wasn’t for some diligent work from Edinburgh based Fanjita (real name, David Court), who, arguably, broke open the PSP hacking scene. In a fit of whimsy, The Skinny tracked down said hacker to find the whys and wherefores of hacking the little big screen…
"In the beginning, prior to the PSP's release over here, the hacking scene was small; no real advancements were being made. So I guess I decided; if I wanted an open console, I’d have to get involved," muses Court in response to the Whys. The Wherefores however, are somewhat harder to pin-down, due in part to my lack of comprehension of the word…
Anyway, Court continues: "In the beginning, there weren’t many people doing the serious work, but as things have progressed, those of us doing the decrypting have developed quite a close-knit group." Indeed, it is this close-knit group which has managed to crack the latest Sony update (which generally try and lock out homebrew from the console) before it was even available for download on the English servers, something which used to take many weeks. An impressive feat, but one that begs the question: if the updates can be hacked so quickly - and given that their point, for the most part, is to keep the homebrew scene out - why does Sony still bother with them?
"We're not sure why. After all, they have opened up the PS3 to the homebrew scene," Court is referring to the ability of the PS3 to run Linux, an open operating system which effectively lets users run their own programs on the console. "It's symptomatic of Sony’s whole attitude to the consumer. They have a general disdain for the end user: “You will take what we make, and you will think its cool.” It's where they are falling down with the PS3. It doesn’t excite me, and then you can’t afford one.’ True that.
Read the full article here...Josh Wilson
May 1, 2007
Source: The Skinny