A completely reasonable reaction to the news that the Linux kernel is dropping support for the 386 processor.
As you may have heard by now, the Linux kernel is dropping support for the 386 processor.
It’s okay. I’ll wait right here while you finish pushing over monitors and flipping over every desk at work in a nerd rage. I did the same thing. Get it out of your system.
I know, I know. Almost nobody on the planet uses a 386-based PC anymore. The first 386 processors started shipping in 1985 – which, according to some quick finger-counting-math, is roughly 75 thousand years ago. Heck, even many of the niche uses of the 386 processors (such as in aerospace) are being phased out.
And Intel hasn’t even made them for five years. But still, I can’t help but feel like we’re losing something important here.
When I think of Linux (and the Linux “cousins” like NetBSD and FreeBSD) one of the first things that springs to mind is “MEGA PORTABILITY.” (Sorry to type that all in caps. In my head it was shouted through a PA system right before two boxers duke it out.)
I mean, really. What’s next? Phasing out of 486 support? Preposterous! Why not just phase out support for keyboards, monitors and being awesome?
Think about it like this:
The last time you downloaded a 32bit .iso of Ubuntu, the file name probably read something like “ubuntu-12.04-desktop-i386.iso”. Note that super awesome “i386” part.
What will the .iso for Ubuntu 13.04 look like? “ubuntu-13.04-desktop-i-dunno-some-32-bit-processor-or-something.iso”? A travesty, I say! A complete traves… Actually. That would be kind of awesome.
Okay. I am convinced. For the sake of having awesome file names for our .iso’s…386 support had to die.
