The Linux kernel still supports 68k Macintosh, which haven't been made since 1994. Or the original MIPS workstations from the mid-80s. Or the Atari ST.
i386 isn't close to obsolete by this standard. It won't be for a couple of decades. 32-bit desktop x86 processors are still sold (Intel Celeron, Intel Core, VIA processors, AMD Geode). The one-laptop-per-child project will be introducing *millions* of new users to computing with their XO laptop, which is based on a 32-bit mobile Athlon XP processor. And the 386EX processor still flourishes in the embedded space, where Linux is very strong, in a lot of military and aerospace applications.
obsolete? not by the standards of the Linux kernel!
The Linux kernel still supports 68k Macintosh, which haven't been made since 1994. Or the original MIPS workstations from the mid-80s. Or the Atari ST.
i386 isn't close to obsolete by this standard. It won't be for a couple of decades. 32-bit desktop x86 processors are still sold (Intel Celeron, Intel Core, VIA processors, AMD Geode). The one-laptop-per-child project will be introducing *millions* of new users to computing with their XO laptop, which is based on a 32-bit mobile Athlon XP processor. And the 386EX processor still flourishes in the embedded space, where Linux is very strong, in a lot of military and aerospace applications.
So i386 will be around for a long, long time.