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submitted 1 year ago by MDKAOD@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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[-] patatahooligan@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

Linux 6.1 will be maintained for another 10 years by the CIP. The hardware in question will be almost 40 years old at that point. I don't have a violin small enough for users losing free support after 40 years from maintainers who most likely don't even own the same hardware to test on...

[-] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml -4 points 1 year ago

On the other hand, they were probably unchanged for decades. Did anything really change, or is this just a case of we need to remove 500k lines of code, what is most useless ? Let's cut that.

In other words, removed because it's a KPI to remove lines, and this makes number go up.

[-] patatahooligan@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Keeping code around isn't free. Interfaces change, regressions pop up. You have to occasionally put in work just to keep it in a working state. Usually in cases like this there are discussions on the mailing list about who is going to maintain them and nobody volunteers. You can do that if you're so passionate about keeping these drivers around.

[-] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago

They were fine all this time, what changed suddenly ? I bet it's the security nerds stirring shit, making it all a liability and easier deleted than fixed.

[-] saigot@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

So if it's been unchanged for decades then you can just add it yourself and recompile the kernel. Elsewhere you argue that you can't just add old drivers to a newer kernel, which implies these drivers require some nontrivial amount of maintaince. Which is it.

this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2023
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Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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