Zack's Kernel News
Zack's Kernel News

Zack discusses removing dead ports, new minimum GCC version jumping from 3.2 to 4.8, Intel considering hardware changes to mitigate security flaws, enhancing asymmetric process migration, and protecting user's system control.
Removing Dead Ports
When no one's using a particular piece of hardware, Linus Torvalds becomes very likely to accept a patch removing that hardware from the kernel. It's a similar reason for why he doesn't want to add security patches that don't actually fix security holes, but that just make it "harder" for attackers to design worms. He wants to support hardware that people actually use and fix bugs that actually exist, but he doesn't want to add features that no one will use or that add bloat without actually adding a feature.
Some hardware ports came onto the chopping block recently for this reason. Arnd Bergmann posted a patch to remove Blackfin, CRIS, FRV, M32R, Metag, MN10300, Score, and Tile. He also gave his opinion on why these particular pieces of hardware had disappeared from use. Apparently, as he put it, "while the eight architectures are extremely different, they all suffered the same fate: There was one company in charge of an SoC line, a CPU microarchitecture and a software ecosystem, which was more costly than licensing newer off-the-shelf CPU cores from a third party."
The moral of that story seems to be: Companies shouldn't make custom hardware when generic will do just as well. It's sort of the same reason companies should use Linux instead of writing their own operating system whose key features would soon be incorporated into Linux anyway and be better maintained as well. But apparently this lesson must be learned over and over again.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.
-
Gnome 48 Alpha Ready for Testing
The latest Gnome desktop alpha is now available with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
Wine 10 Includes Plenty to Excite Users
With its latest release, Wine has the usual crop of bug fixes and improvements, along with some exciting new features.
-
Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.
-
Gnome 48 Debuts New Audio Player
To date, the audio player found within the Gnome desktop has been meh at best, but with the upcoming release that all changes.
-
Plasma 6.3 Ready for Public Beta Testing
Plasma 6.3 will ship with KDE Gear 24.12.1 and KDE Frameworks 6.10, along with some new and exciting features.
-
Budgie 10.10 Scheduled for Q1 2025 with a Surprising Desktop Update
If Budgie is your desktop environment of choice, 2025 is going to be a great year for you.