PS3 and Linux...please help

[painted_klown]

Hello all.

I am a noob to the ps3 and blu ray. I just recently bought an 80 gb "fat" ps3 from a friend of mine and started doing some reading about its potential uses. I already knew that it was a blu-ray, dvd player, and video game console before hand and that was really the main reason I went the route I did.

I am somewhat savvy about technology and electronics but completely clueless about the potential of the ps3. I would really like to see what these machines are capable of beyond what they can do out of the box. I have tried looking on various other web sites but I cannot seem to find any real clear cut answers to my questions.

Since my purchase I have discovered that you can rip audio cd's to the internal drive and format the drive on the ps3 in order to install the linux os. This brings me to my noob questions.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of installing linux?

When re-formatting the internal drive what is the best ratio to use for ps3 os vs. linux os? I believe it lets you select 10 gb for one os or the other.

What will my ps3 be able to do with linux installed that it cannot do now?

Will my ps3 be able to run any/all linux programs?

Where can I obtain the linux operating system/software?

Is it difficult to install, setup, and operate linux?

That's all I can think of for now and I apologize for all the "l\l00b" questions. I am just really curious about this. Thanks in advance. -Dave