""I *really* don't think i486 class hardware is relevant any more," Torvalds said in 2022, noting that while some people may still operate 486 systems they aren't relevant from a kernel development standpoint. "At some point, people have them as museum pieces. They might as well run museum kernels.""
""We have various complicated hardware emulation facilities that are not worth the effort for such old hardware," Molnar stated, emphasizing the need to focus developer resources on more relevant technologies."
Linux 7.1 is set to remove support for 80486-generation chips, marking the end of an era for older hardware. A patch queued by Ingo Molnar will eliminate M486, M486SX, and MELAN configuration options from Kconfig. This change follows the removal of 80386 support in 2012 and reflects a shift in kernel development priorities. Linus Torvalds has expressed that 486 hardware is no longer relevant, suggesting that users of such systems will need to rely on older kernel versions moving forward.
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