Re:80286 ATX mainboard based on the IBM 5170 AT PC
by lproven on Thursday November 14, 2024 @08:56AM
(#42136155)
> Linux doesn't support it due to requiring an FPU.
This is incorrect.
FPU means "floating point unit". Linux does not need this. Few OSes do at all.
You meant "MMU", meaning memory management unit. This is what Linux uses to perform virtual memory handling, and that is why Linux can't run on an 80286: the '286 had no MMU (or FPU).
The difference being that 99% of computers without an FPU could just have one added. This was never true of an MMU.
Indeed some early Unix machines based on CPUs with no MMU used an entire 2nd CPU just for MMU duties.
This is incorrect.
FPU means "floating point unit". Linux does not need this. Few OSes do at all.
You meant "MMU", meaning memory management unit. This is what Linux uses to perform virtual memory handling, and that is why Linux can't run on an 80286: the '286 had no MMU (or FPU).
The difference being that 99% of computers without an FPU could just have one added. This was never true of an MMU.
Indeed some early Unix machines based on CPUs with no MMU used an entire 2nd CPU just for MMU duties.