Linux kernel developers are considering removing old network drivers for ISA and PCMCIA hardware from the last century due to an increased maintenance burden from AI-generated bug reports and fuzzing. These drivers likely have few to no active users but are generating excessive bug reports that consume developer time. Andrew Lunn has proposed a patch series to begin removing these legacy drivers to reduce the maintenance overhead.
Background
The Linux kernel has historically maintained extensive hardware support for legacy devices, but this comes with ongoing maintenance costs. Recent advances in AI-driven bug detection and fuzzing tools have increased the volume of reported issues for older code.
- Source
- Lobsters
- Published
- Apr 26, 2026 at 02:24 AM
- Score
- 6.0 / 10