Proposal to remove 486 and early 586 support from Linux
Proposal to remove 486 and early 586 support from Linux
lore.kernel.org
[RFC PATCH 0/15] x86: Remove support for TSC-less and CX8-less CPUs - Ingo Molnar
17 comments
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For context, Debian dropped support for 586 in Debian Stretch (9.0), release in 2017.
I have not done the legwork to compare this to other distros, but Debian generally supports older hardware than most other major mainstream desktop distros.
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Slackware probably still supports Babbage's Difference Engine.
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Yes, and this means all the “light weight”, “legacy hardware” distros require at least a Pentium Pro.
The only binary distro I know that still runs on Pentium is Adelie.
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Gentoo still has support for i486, although you have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the install media downloads page to find it. (Admittedly, this is in part because the list is in alphabetical order by arch. 😅 )
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i386 support to continue indefinitely.
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Yay, ewaste!
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It's literally not worth the electricity to keep computers that old running. You could replace one with a $5 Raspberry Pi Zero or maybe even a $2 microcontroller and recoup the cost in lower power bills within a month or so.
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The Pentium Pro came out in 1995. This is dropping support for CPUs that came out before then. The 486 came out in 1989.
I personally think 36 years of support is long enough.
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There were 486 compatible SoC chips being released as late as 2010.
I think you can still buy them: https://www.vortex86.com/
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Some stuff turns to e-waste because it's no longer supported by software. Some stuff turns to e-waste because it's just so goddamn old. The last ones of these architecture had a whopping 233MHz. My first PC that I got new as a kid was faster than that (must have been a Pentium II, while i586 is Pentium). I highly doubt there are many of these systems left in operation, especially not with new kernels.
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Don't be an idiot.
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17 comments