Linux 7.1 removes ISA bus mouse, Palm PC 110 touchpad, OLPC HGPK PS/2, and CT82C710 drivers – mostly 30-year-old hardware, totaling 3,374 deleted lines.
Key Takeaways
InPort/Microsoft/ATI XL and Logitech “Logibm” bus mouse drivers cut; both connected via ISA add-in cards not relevant for roughly 30 years.
CT82C710 (Chips & Technologies PS/2) removed alongside Linux 7.1 beginning to drop i486 support – only used by TI TravelMate and Gateway Nomad on 386/486 systems.
OLPC HGPK PS/2 protocol support removed after being broken since 2015 – 12 years with zero complaints filed.
Palm Top PC 110 touchpad driver also gone; that device was Japan-only, released in 1995.
Input pull adds Charlieplex GPIO keypad driver, aw86927 driver with 86938 ASIC support, and Chrome OS keyboard Fn-key keymap extension alongside the removals.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters broadly welcome the cleanup; one argues some hardware has literally zero surviving users because the physical materials – cords, connectors – could not have lasted this long intact.
The OLPC HGPK case (broken 12 years, no bug reports) prompted debate over whether unfired broken code constitutes a real bug at all.
Notable Comments
@flohofwoe: “whether a bug in code that’s never called actually exists” – sharp framing on the OLPC HGPK removal.