Re: missing the point
> The whole point of x86 is backward compatibility.
I could be wrong here but it seems to me that you are confusing the directions here.
*Backwards* compatibility means that newer systems are compatible with older ones. The direction in time is from new _to_ old, hence, "backwards".
*Forward* compatibility means that future systems will still be compatible with existing ones: in other words, looking forwards in time.
Requiring a new version of the x86 ISA is not related to backwards compatibility; nobody is discussing removing features that were once present. This is the opposite: it is saying, "let us stipulate that we require a certain baseline set of facilities" which means requiring a system _newer_ than a certain cut-off.
Newer systems remain compatible with older ones. No backwards compatibility is lost here. This is about going forwards and advancing in time to newer system facilities. Old code will still run.
Linux dropped i386 support a decade ago in v3.8 in 2012. Your 386 code still works, though. If you have any.
Kernel 6.2 will drop i486 code next year. The minimum spec to boot a 32-bit kernel 6.2 will be i586, meaning Pentium 1 level or above. That is a 1993 CPU, meaning that kernel 6.2 will still function on hardware that is *thirty years old*.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
