PS3's can now run the Yellow Dog version of Linux that is meant for Mac users. Admittedly the kernal has been modified.
http://www.helios.de/support/ps3_install.phtml
Extract
The PLAYSTATION®3 uses a 64-bit Cell processor which runs at 3.2 GHz, is PowerPC compatible with 256 MB of main memory, and has performance comparable to a G5 single CPU. The Cell chip includes one PPE (PowerPC) CPU and 7 additional SPEs (which each contain a Synergistic Processing Unit (SPU)). Each SPE has its own local 256 KByte memory to handle special computing tasks. The spu-gcc generates SPE code which must be loaded into the SPE. Also, the NVIDIA RSX GPU has its own 256 MB memory. The PS3 includes WLAN, Gigabit Ethernet and a 2.5" swappable serial ATA disk. The TV can be connected via the AV jacks using PAL (576 lines) or NTSC (480 lines), higher resolution requires an HDMI or DVI monitor, the monitor must support HDMI DRM (called HDCP), otherwise the high resolution is not available.
The Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 is basically the PPC based release (RPMs) with additional kernel support for the PS3. The Linux runs fully virtualized, it is based on IBM's virtualization engine. The benefit is that Linux has already support for IBM's PPC LPAR. The virtualization hides almost the entire PS3 physical hardware (except USB) and protects Sony's OS against patching and stealing keys. The PS3 graphics processor (GPU) and its memory cannot be accessed/used from Linux, only the video frame buffer is mapped.
http://www.helios.de/support/ps3_install.phtml
Extract
The PLAYSTATION®3 uses a 64-bit Cell processor which runs at 3.2 GHz, is PowerPC compatible with 256 MB of main memory, and has performance comparable to a G5 single CPU. The Cell chip includes one PPE (PowerPC) CPU and 7 additional SPEs (which each contain a Synergistic Processing Unit (SPU)). Each SPE has its own local 256 KByte memory to handle special computing tasks. The spu-gcc generates SPE code which must be loaded into the SPE. Also, the NVIDIA RSX GPU has its own 256 MB memory. The PS3 includes WLAN, Gigabit Ethernet and a 2.5" swappable serial ATA disk. The TV can be connected via the AV jacks using PAL (576 lines) or NTSC (480 lines), higher resolution requires an HDMI or DVI monitor, the monitor must support HDMI DRM (called HDCP), otherwise the high resolution is not available.
The Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 is basically the PPC based release (RPMs) with additional kernel support for the PS3. The Linux runs fully virtualized, it is based on IBM's virtualization engine. The benefit is that Linux has already support for IBM's PPC LPAR. The virtualization hides almost the entire PS3 physical hardware (except USB) and protects Sony's OS against patching and stealing keys. The PS3 graphics processor (GPU) and its memory cannot be accessed/used from Linux, only the video frame buffer is mapped.