Linux 7.1 is beginning to phase out built-in support for the Intel i486 processor, which was first released in 1989. A change authored by Ingo Molnar removes CONFIG_M486SX, CONFIG_M486, and CONFIG_MELAN from the kernel, eliminating hardware emulation code that Linus Torvalds himself called a waste of development effort. The change hasn't merged yet but has strong backing. Users still running i486 hardware are advised to stick with an LTS kernel or older distribution.
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The i486 was legendary, but all legends need to move on eventuallySort: