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Re: Increasing minimum 'i386' processor



Dear Ben,
Ben Hutchings schrieb am 19.11.2011 23:42:
> The i386 architecture was the first in Linux and in Debian, but we have
> long since dropped support for the original i386-compatible processors
> and now require a minimum of a 486-class processor.
> 
> I think it is time to increase the minimum requirement to 586-class, if
> not for wheezy then immediately after.  (Later it should be increased
> further, and eventually i386 should be reduced to a partial architecture
> that may be installed on amd64 systems.)  This would allow the use of
> optimisations and new instructions throughout userland that improve
> performance for the vast majority of users.

I think "in time for Wheezy" would be fine. People with an older CPU will most
likely not have that much fun with newer releases anyway, simply because a lot
of programs tend to get bigger and more power-hungry over time.

Just out of curiosity: are there any numbers available, indicating how many
installations with CPUs with an instruction set < 586 are still in use? Does
popcon collect such information?

Kind regards,
Kai Wasserbäch



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