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Linux started on the 386.

“It is NOT portable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(.”

Couldnt find that quote on the 2001 version of the site.

https://web.archive.org/web/20010626233912/http://www.elks.e...

Not sure if you are confusing that with the original Linux/Linus announcement post:

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.minix/c/dlNtH7RRrGA/m/Sw...

I searched archive a while ago and couldn't find it. It's probably referencing the announcement but I clearly remember a pull quote on the ELKS site, probably the same one quoted above.

I happened upon the site when first playing with a (z80) Gameboy compiler (probably SDCC) and wanting to port Linux to it.

I fully admit i could be imagining it.

Yes, I should have said 386.

How recent was the quote? Anywhere near 486 through Pentium, and the quote makes absolute sense. He wouldn’t have been optimizing for smaller architectures.

Since then, some (many?) contributors have supplied support for smaller systems.