Linux kernel is leaving 486 CPUs behind, only 18 years after the last one made

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/linux-to-end-support-for-1989s-hottest-chip-the-486-with-next-release/

35•rickcarlino•7mo ago

Comments

tester756•7mo ago

Good.

Removing tech debt is important

lillecarl•7mo ago

Agreed, if you're running a 486 machine the least of your problems is running the latest Linux kernel.

volemo•7mo ago

I feel like at this point they could’ve waited more years just for bragging rights.

(I don’t mean to say 18 years is not brag worthy, but 20 rolls off the tongue better.)

Talinx•7mo ago

Well, actually... The LTS kernel with longest support before 6.15 is 6.1. It will be supported until December 2027 [1] which is a few months over 20 years after the last 486 CPU [2].

[1] https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20061009060120/http://developer.... as linked in the Ars Technica article

volemo•7mo ago

Cool, we’ll be able to say “Linux supports hardware for over two decades after it’s stopped being shipped”!

Thanks for the info, btw. (:

__turbobrew__•7mo ago

There is always netbsd, which prioritizes portability.

Whether you like it or not, linux is a commercial operating system primarily designed and built by people working for commercial entities, to solve commercial problems.

Nobody in the commercial world is running 486, and supporting old CPUs makes it harder to maintain and build features for modern hardware that commercial entities use.

_mlbt•7mo ago

It looks like NetBSD and FreeDOS are the last major operating systems that support 486s. Even OpenBSD and Minix require at least a Pentium processor.

dpc_01234•7mo ago

What does "commercial" have to do with anything? As a personal user, I have absolutely no need for 486, and I doubt anyone outside of extremely narrow group of people digging old hardware does. 486 was a history when I was a kid, and I am not even remotely young anymore.

polygot•7mo ago

Title is slightly misleading, it is not leaving behind 486 types of CPUs individually, but the "486 CPU".

dmd•7mo ago

Absolutely nobody was confused by this.

bmacho•7mo ago

I definitely was BUT I figured it out myself, without help.

dpc_01234•7mo ago

I was not, but now that it was pointed out, I can totally see why would many people be confused, at least after reading just the title. :D

Daishiman•7mo ago

Can most software even compile for 486? I don't think there's anybody out there testing their software for that target.

ChrisArchitect•7mo ago

Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43928570

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