Linux 7.1 Expected to Begin Removing I486 CPU Support

phoronix.com

25 pointsrbanffy7 comments

Well, that leaves the Pentium family, doesn't it?

I wonder how far we are from the removal of all 32-bit x86 support from the mainline Linux kernel.

I think Pentium will still be supported. i486 refers to very old 32 bits CPU (80486). The article is not clear but by default I tend to think that i586 and i686 will still be supported.

Support for the Pentium isn't going away now, certainly, and nobody's announced plans to drop it from the Linux kernel, but every architecture has a time horizon.

"Pentium" also refers to a 30-year range of CPUs with very different capabilities. I suspect that removing (say) P5-specific kludges would also not cause too much grief given it's over thirty years old and dates from about the same time as the newer 486s. At some point you need to clean out the cruft a bit.

There are still 32 bit x86 PCs sold today for embedded applications, I'm pretty sure.

yep aren't most fridges and ovens etc using 386DXs?

Maybe it's all ARM Cortex now? I thought the 386 was still in production.

I'm sad because I have an OLPC XO-1, which is i586 and I suspect that it's next on the chopping block.

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