[lfs-support] Intel axes viable, older CPU patches

[Paul Rogers]

I was hoping Intel was as good as its word, as I use Core-2 systems daily for internet access, still rely on 1st Gen i7s, and as a retired person cannot afford to "keep-up", but according to PCWorld, "The chipmaker’s latest microcode revision update now says planned revisions are “stopped” for CPUs based on the Penryn (2007), Yorkfield (2007), Wolfdale (2007), Bloomfield (2008), Clarksfield (2009), Jasper Forest (2010), and Atom “SoFIA” (2015), ... This puts the final nail in the coffin for the Core 2 series of chips, where Intel’s first quad-core processors debuted. Some first-gen Core CPUs also get the axe, including the Intel Core i7-970, 980, 980X, and 990X."
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[Ken Moffat]

Post by Paul Rogers
I was hoping Intel was as good as its word, as I use Core-2 systems daily for internet access, still rely on 1st Gen i7s, and as a retired person cannot afford to "keep-up", but according to PCWorld, "The chipmaker’s latest microcode revision update now says planned revisions are “stopped” for CPUs based on the Penryn (2007), Yorkfield (2007), Wolfdale (2007), Bloomfield (2008), Clarksfield (2009), Jasper Forest (2010), and Atom “SoFIA” (2015), ... This puts the final nail in the coffin for the Core 2 series of chips, where Intel’s first quad-core processors debuted. Some first-gen Core CPUs also get the axe, including the Intel Core i7-970, 980, 980X, and 990X."

I understand your concerns, and I'm no fan of intel (I buy my own
kit, and the retail stuff (except atoms, which aren't much use for
building from source) has always been "unnecessarily expensive",
although no-longer to the same extent now that AMD are back in the
game).

But - on x86_64 (I know you prefer 32-bit, and the meltdown fixes
for that have not yet arrived upstream) most of these problems are
hard to leverage unless you are running in a VM (if so, you could
try to get information from other VMs or the host), and recent
kernels should help make exploitation harder (as should recent
releases of the main graphical browsers re javascript attempts to
steal your data).

OTOH, the days of PS/2 mice and D-SUB video are all-but gone. This
adds to the expense of changing to newer machines.

Summary: if you can run current kernels (i.e. x86_64) and current
desktop software, the situation is unlikely to be catastrophic for a
home user.

ĸen
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