Linux to drop support for Intel 386 chips

Almost 30 years after it debuted, the 386 chip from Intel may no longer be able to run the next kernel of the Linux operating system.

 

Developer Ingo Molnar said support for the 386 chip, which debuted back in 1985, meant complexity for developers who had to do more work to accommodate it.

 

"Unfortunately there's a nostalgic cost: your old original 386 DX33 system from early 1991 won't be able to boot modern Linux kernels anymore. Sniff," Molnar said.

 

Molnar is one of several developers working on the upcoming next version of Linux - version 3.8. Linux's version 3.7 debuted last Dec. 10.

 

But an article on PC World said Linux creator Linus Torvalds did not appear concerned about the looming end of support for 386.

 

“I'm not sentimental ... Good riddance,” PC World quoted him as saying.

 

PC World noted Linux 3.7 has features including multiplatform ARM support and 64-bit ARM support as well as heightened security, full TCP Fast Open support, and improved drivers for Intel and Nvidia graphics hardware.

 

It said lightweight version of Linux such as Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux have kept older hardware productive for years.

 

Many computer users with old hardware that could no longer run the latest versions of other OSes like Windows usually turn to Linux, it added.

 

PC World said that while production of the Intel 386 ended in September 2007, it is still used in embedded systems and even phones such as the BlackBerry 950 and Nokia 9000 Communicator. — TJD, GMA News