Linux Kills Ancient x86 Fallbacks
unknownuniverse.uk
As Linux 7.2 makes the Time Stamp Counter mandatory, we look at why dropping legacy x86 fallback timing code is long overdue.

Linux 7.2 has landed, dragging x86 timing clean out of the nineties by making the Time Stamp Counter mandatory.

I wrote up a quick article on why ditching those ancient legacy fallbacks is good housekeeping, plus a few other bits like cache-aware scheduling and memory tweaks worth noting.

Is anyone still using legacy hardware? If so, what do you use it for?

  • mabeledo@lemmy.world
    1·
    4 hours ago

    I’m sorry, I thought we were comparing BSD to Linux. And why would I use BSD if there isn’t a single piece of software I need that isn’t available on Linux as well, but others, like Kubernetes, aren’t natively supported on BSD.

    Regardless, nobody cares about dropping 486 support. NetBSD is a novelty OS at best, and FreeBSD, the most popular BSD out there, doesn’t run on 486 since 2024. Nice attempt at trolling tho.