The Linux kernel is poised to sever its final ties to Intel's Itanium architecture. A proposal currently circulating among developers aims to permanently remove support for the defunct 64-bit processor line, signaling the end of a two-decade technological saga.

Intel shipped its last Itanium chip in 2021, and HPE, the final major hardware vendor, halted support orders years before that. No mainstream Linux distribution currently supports the platform. Yet, vestigial code for the architecture, known as ia64, remains woven throughout the kernel. Developers like Ard Biesheuvel argue this legacy code forces other subsystems to maintain cumbersome workarounds, slowing progress for everyone.

The architecture's unusual design is the root of the problem. Itanium used a VLIW approach called EPIC, which relied on compilers to schedule instructions—a concept that never delivered on its performance promises. This fundamental difference from common architectures like x86-64 means kernel areas from memory management to boot processes are littered with ia64-specific paths. Removing them would simplify the codebase considerably.

This move follows a pattern. The kernel community has grown more assertive in pruning obsolete architectures, guided by a simple principle: untested code is a source of bugs and maintenance drag. The final step typically involves a deprecation period, allowing for any last objections. Given the silence from Itanium's dwindling user base, its removal now seems a formality.

For the few organizations that might still operate Itanium hardware, this changes little; they have long been anchored to old kernel versions. For developers, however, deleting tens of thousands of lines of specialized code will streamline future work, making the kernel's core cleaner and easier to modify. It's a practical step, closing the book on a bold but commercially unsuccessful chapter in computing history.

Source: Webpronews