"Nintendo Switch is a closed-source Linux"

S

Sam (Deleted User)

Guest
https://nintendotoday.com/nintendo-switch-linux/

If the title were the least bit true like the article implied, Nintendo would be harassed ongoing with many lawsuits.
We’ve suspected it all along, and now it’s been confirmed: the Nintendo Switch runs on Linux. More specifically, the Linux Free BSD Kernel.
Couldn't help but find it funny they implied Linux is more than a kernel, and that FreeBSD is just a kernel, and that Linux can have a FreeBSD kernel. I guess they tried to simplify it for people who don't know anything about this stuff, or maybe the author doesn't.
This is the first time Nintendo uses Linux for its console — the Wii U, Wii, and other consoles all used proprietary Nintendo software. What does this mean for gamers? Not much, since it’s a heavily customized version of Linux.
lol actually, according to Wikipedia, all of those are based on FreeBSD, and not just the Switch. They've been doing this for way longer than even the author of this article realized. and then they finish it off with:
UPDATE: As some readers have pointed out, Switch’s Free BSD kernel is more akin to Unix than to Linux, but the two share lots of similarities
As if that made the situation any better. The entire post he made was nothing but 100% false information spread blissfully unaware of reality.

Anyone else find this embarrassing?
 

Evanski

Raccoon Lord
Forum Staff
Moderator
If The wii runs linux, then apparently the RVL-101 uses a different kernel then the RVL-001 , or at the very least my wii doesnt have any linux that I can find on it and its ("customized") but at the same time, I was tricked by gamestop and bought a refurbished console NEVER BUY REFURBISHED CONSOLES FROM GAMESTOP
 

Ihato

Member
That article is 3 years old so it's almost pointless to discuss it. Yes, it's pretty embarrassing for a tech journalist to make such an error, but then again, you should know that journalism in this day and age is dead. I can also see how that can happen cause free software world is confusing as F*CK.
 
S

Sam (Deleted User)

Guest
Yeah initially this was going to be a status update but I didn't feel like splitting up all the text and having to wait for it to allow me to post in between each one lol
 

otterZ

Member
Every time I try to read an online news/journalism article, I give up halfway. There's almost nothing worthy of your time.
I agree, there's just too much click bait / outrage news stories now - all following the same template. I only look on the BBC News site now, as they are not trying to bait people to click on stories in order to survive by flooding them with ads. Mainly because British people are paying for it via a dodgy sounding 'TV licence' - which is great for people not in Britain who get it for free at British tax payers' expense - which is sad but also provides one of the last credible news agencies left standing.

A local pub was being shut down and a crop circle was made, near where I grew up, to protest against it. The Daily Express did a full page write up about it telling everyone that it was to do with Brexit lol. The shark represents the owner who was going to close the local pub down and convert it into flats - as he was nicknamed as an unfeeling shark who was just interested in money. Nothing to do with Brexit. Even the content is often just made up or assumed and directed into drama to get more clicks.
 
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Yal

🐧 *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
Every time I try to read an online news/journalism article, I give up halfway. There's almost nothing worthy of your time.
There's at least one game journalist that's still good ( https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/ ) though Shamus Young is more of a programming nerd that occasionally covers games than a traditional games journalist. Still, he writes plenty of good stuff that's very applicable to making games, so I can't not recommend his blog given the opportunity.
 
@Yal, I've never heard of him. I'll give it a read.
I'll vouch for him too. Been reading his stuff almost since he started. Great analysis and he's entertaining while still not being completely "jokey". He has a YouTube channel as well. Uploads a high-quality video every month or so.
 
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