Re: Increasing minimum 'i386' processor
>>>>> Ben Hutchings <ben@decadent.org.uk> writes:
>>>>> On Sun, 2011-11-20 at 23:44 +0100, Cesare Leonardi wrote:
[…]
>> While i might agree with the exclusion of 486 cpu classes (somewhere
>> i have a Winchip C6 200 MHz but i consider it unusable except for
>> very limited tasks), i think that excluding 586 could be too
>> aggressive. AMD K6-2 processors doesn't have CMOV, because when i
>> try to use various rescue CD on some of these machine, they don't
>> boot with a messages informing of the missing instruction. These
>> processors are about 15 years old but are still useful and usable
>> today and maybe still for Wheezy+1. I think that would be a pity if
>> Debian will not provide anymore a kernel for this old cpus.
> Maybe you think it's a waste to replace old PCs, but in many cases
> it's a waste of money to keep them running. Electricity isn't
> getting any cheaper and modern systems are much better at
> power-saving.
I'm not sure about ARM, but one of my K6-based systems
apparently has power consumption below or comparable to that of
one of my Intel Atom ones. (Though the performance of the
former is obviously lower.)
One more observation is that the 80386-based systems and the
like didn't require any coolers.
That being said, I'm now considering moving to ARM-based
hardware, such as the Raspberry Pi computer, for the tasks that
don't require much CPU cycles.
--
FSF associate member #7257
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