Linux Format

Keeping the fires burning

When 386 support was slated for removal, so too was support for 387 math coprocessor emulation, required by 486SX chips (which lacked the floating point unit of their DX brethren). This was granted a reprieve, since it didn’t really complicate other subsystems like the 386 code did, and there was some hardware still in production that required math emulation. That feature is still around today, so you can see that code is only dropped from the kernel when there is good reason. Just being old is not enough.

Unfortunately kernel support is far from the end of the story. Distros are free to choose the optimisations to build into their packages, and since there’s not a great deal of 20-year-old

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Linux Format

Linux Format4 min read
Disk Management
Recently, I have spent a not insignificant amount of time R remediating Linux systems with some poor design choices regards disk layout and management on Linux. I thought of it as something worthwhile sharing with the community at large. Ubuntu is th
Linux Format4 min read
Framework Laptop 16
T he Framework 16 is the laptop we’ve always wanted. Well, if you put the Framework 16’s GPU party piece into the Razer Blade 14, you’ve got the laptop we’ve always wanted, but this is a vital step down that path. And without Framework, there’s no ch
Linux Format3 min readInternet & Web
Hostinger
Hostinger offers affordable shared hosting for small to medium lowtraffic sites. VPS hosting and cloud hosting give your website more resources for extra speed, making them suitable for more demanding, businesscritical sites. H ostinger is web hostin

Related