linux-stable/kernel
Ard Biesheuvel cf8e865810 arch: Remove Itanium (IA-64) architecture
The Itanium architecture is obsolete, and an informal survey [0] reveals
that any residual use of Itanium hardware in production is mostly HP-UX
or OpenVMS based. The use of Linux on Itanium appears to be limited to
enthusiasts that occasionally boot a fresh Linux kernel to see whether
things are still working as intended, and perhaps to churn out some
distro packages that are rarely used in practice.

None of the original companies behind Itanium still produce or support
any hardware or software for the architecture, and it is listed as
'Orphaned' in the MAINTAINERS file, as apparently, none of the engineers
that contributed on behalf of those companies (nor anyone else, for that
matter) have been willing to support or maintain the architecture
upstream or even be responsible for applying the odd fix. The Intel
firmware team removed all IA-64 support from the Tianocore/EDK2
reference implementation of EFI in 2018. (Itanium is the original
architecture for which EFI was developed, and the way Linux supports it
deviates significantly from other architectures.) Some distros, such as
Debian and Gentoo, still maintain [unofficial] ia64 ports, but many have
dropped support years ago.

While the argument is being made [1] that there is a 'for the common
good' angle to being able to build and run existing projects such as the
Grid Community Toolkit [2] on Itanium for interoperability testing, the
fact remains that none of those projects are known to be deployed on
Linux/ia64, and very few people actually have access to such a system in
the first place. Even if there were ways imaginable in which Linux/ia64
could be put to good use today, what matters is whether anyone is
actually doing that, and this does not appear to be the case.

There are no emulators widely available, and so boot testing Itanium is
generally infeasible for ordinary contributors. GCC still supports IA-64
but its compile farm [3] no longer has any IA-64 machines. GLIBC would
like to get rid of IA-64 [4] too because it would permit some overdue
code cleanups. In summary, the benefits to the ecosystem of having IA-64
be part of it are mostly theoretical, whereas the maintenance overhead
of keeping it supported is real.

So let's rip off the band aid, and remove the IA-64 arch code entirely.
This follows the timeline proposed by the Debian/ia64 maintainer [5],
which removes support in a controlled manner, leaving IA-64 in a known
good state in the most recent LTS release. Other projects will follow
once the kernel support is removed.

[0] https://lore.kernel.org/all/CAMj1kXFCMh_578jniKpUtx_j8ByHnt=s7S+yQ+vGbKt9ud7+kQ@mail.gmail.com/
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/0075883c-7c51-00f5-2c2d-5119c1820410@web.de/
[2] https://gridcf.org/gct-docs/latest/index.html
[3] https://cfarm.tetaneutral.net/machines/list/
[4] https://lore.kernel.org/all/87bkiilpc4.fsf@mid.deneb.enyo.de/
[5] https://lore.kernel.org/all/ff58a3e76e5102c94bb5946d99187b358def688a.camel@physik.fu-berlin.de/

Acked-by: Tony Luck <tony.luck@intel.com>
Signed-off-by: Ard Biesheuvel <ardb@kernel.org>
2023-09-11 08:13:17 +00:00
..
bpf RISC-V Patches for the 6.6 Merge Window, Part 2 (try 2) 2023-09-09 14:25:11 -07:00
cgroup cgroup: fix build when CGROUP_SCHED is not enabled 2023-09-02 08:27:17 -07:00
configs Kbuild updates for v6.6 2023-09-05 11:01:47 -07:00
debug printk changes for 6.6 2023-09-04 13:20:19 -07:00
dma Revert "dma-contiguous: check for memory region overlap" 2023-09-08 05:58:32 -03:00
entry entry: Remove empty addr_limit_user_check() 2023-08-23 10:32:39 +02:00
events powerpc updates for 6.6 2023-08-31 12:43:10 -07:00
futex mm/mm_init.c: remove obsolete macro HASH_SMALL 2023-08-18 10:12:07 -07:00
gcov gcov: shut up missing prototype warnings for internal stubs 2023-08-18 10:18:58 -07:00
irq Boring updates for the interrupt subsystem: 2023-08-28 14:33:11 -07:00
kcsan kcsan: Don't expect 64 bits atomic builtins from 32 bits architectures 2023-06-09 23:29:50 +10:00
livepatch livepatch: Make 'klp_stack_entries' static 2023-06-05 13:56:52 +02:00
locking - An extensive rework of kexec and crash Kconfig from Eric DeVolder 2023-08-29 14:53:51 -07:00
module module/decompress: use vmalloc() for zstd decompression workspace 2023-08-29 09:39:08 -07:00
power TTY/Serial driver changes for 6.6-rc1 2023-09-01 09:38:00 -07:00
printk Revert "printk: export symbols for debug modules" 2023-09-07 14:19:42 +02:00
rcu TTY/Serial driver changes for 6.6-rc1 2023-09-01 09:38:00 -07:00
sched arch: Remove Itanium (IA-64) architecture 2023-09-11 08:13:17 +00:00
time Fix false positive "softirq work is pending" messages on -rt 2023-09-02 09:01:48 -07:00
trace Probes updates for v6.6: 2023-09-02 11:10:50 -07:00
.gitignore
Kconfig.freezer
Kconfig.hz
Kconfig.kexec crash: hotplug support for kexec_load() 2023-08-24 16:25:14 -07:00
Kconfig.locks
Kconfig.preempt
Makefile v6.5-rc1-modules-next 2023-06-28 15:51:08 -07:00
acct.c audit/stable-6.6 PR 20230829 2023-08-30 08:17:35 -07:00
async.c
audit.c audit: move trailing statements to next line 2023-08-15 18:16:14 -04:00
audit.h audit: correct audit_filter_inodes() definition 2023-07-21 12:17:25 -04:00
audit_fsnotify.c
audit_tree.c
audit_watch.c audit_init_parent(): constify path 2022-09-01 17:39:30 -04:00
auditfilter.c audit: move trailing statements to next line 2023-08-15 18:16:14 -04:00
auditsc.c Including fixes from netfilter and bpf. 2023-09-07 18:33:07 -07:00
backtracetest.c
bounds.c mm: multi-gen LRU: minimal implementation 2022-09-26 19:46:09 -07:00
capability.c lsm: constify the 'target' parameter in security_capget() 2023-08-08 16:48:47 -04:00
cfi.c cfi: Switch to -fsanitize=kcfi 2022-09-26 10:13:13 -07:00
compat.c sched_getaffinity: don't assume 'cpumask_size()' is fully initialized 2023-03-14 19:32:38 -07:00
configs.c
context_tracking.c locking/atomic: treewide: use raw_atomic*_<op>() 2023-06-05 09:57:20 +02:00
cpu.c arch: Remove Itanium (IA-64) architecture 2023-09-11 08:13:17 +00:00
cpu_pm.c cpuidle, cpu_pm: Remove RCU fiddling from cpu_pm_{enter,exit}() 2023-01-13 11:48:15 +01:00
crash_core.c - An extensive rework of kexec and crash Kconfig from Eric DeVolder 2023-08-29 14:53:51 -07:00
crash_dump.c
cred.c cred: convert printks to pr_<level> 2023-08-18 10:18:49 -07:00
delayacct.c delayacct: track delays from IRQ/SOFTIRQ 2023-04-18 16:39:34 -07:00
dma.c
exec_domain.c
exit.c fork, vhost: Use CLONE_THREAD to fix freezer/ps regression 2023-06-01 17:15:33 -04:00
extable.c
fail_function.c kernel/fail_function: fix memory leak with using debugfs_lookup() 2023-02-08 13:36:22 +01:00
fork.c arch: Remove Itanium (IA-64) architecture 2023-09-11 08:13:17 +00:00
freezer.c freezer,sched: Rewrite core freezer logic 2022-09-07 21:53:50 +02:00
gen_kheaders.sh Revert "kheaders: substituting --sort in archive creation" 2023-05-28 16:20:21 +09:00
groups.c
hung_task.c kernel/hung_task.c: set some hung_task.c variables storage-class-specifier to static 2023-04-08 13:45:37 -07:00
iomem.c kernel/iomem.c: remove __weak ioremap_cache helper 2023-08-21 13:37:28 -07:00
irq_work.c trace: Add trace_ipi_send_cpu() 2023-03-24 11:01:29 +01:00
jump_label.c jump_label: Prevent key->enabled int overflow 2022-12-01 15:53:05 -08:00
kallsyms.c kallsyms: Change func signature for cleanup_symbol_name() 2023-08-25 15:00:36 -07:00
kallsyms_internal.h kallsyms: Reduce the memory occupied by kallsyms_seqs_of_names[] 2022-11-12 18:47:36 -08:00
kallsyms_selftest.c Modules changes for v6.6-rc1 2023-08-29 17:32:32 -07:00
kallsyms_selftest.h kallsyms: Add self-test facility 2022-11-15 00:42:02 -08:00
kcmp.c
kcov.c kcov: add prototypes for helper functions 2023-06-09 17:44:17 -07:00
kexec.c crash: hotplug support for kexec_load() 2023-08-24 16:25:14 -07:00
kexec_core.c crash: add generic infrastructure for crash hotplug support 2023-08-24 16:25:13 -07:00
kexec_elf.c
kexec_file.c integrity-v6.6 2023-08-30 09:16:56 -07:00
kexec_internal.h panic, kexec: make __crash_kexec() NMI safe 2022-09-11 21:55:06 -07:00
kheaders.c kheaders: Use array declaration instead of char 2023-03-24 20:10:59 -07:00
kprobes.c kernel: kprobes: Use struct_size() 2023-08-23 09:38:17 +09:00
ksyms_common.c kallsyms: make kallsyms_show_value() as generic function 2023-06-08 12:27:20 -07:00
ksysfs.c crash: hotplug support for kexec_load() 2023-08-24 16:25:14 -07:00
kthread.c kthread: unexport __kthread_should_park() 2023-08-18 10:18:59 -07:00
latencytop.c latencytop: use the last element of latency_record of system 2022-09-11 21:55:12 -07:00
module_signature.c
notifier.c notifiers: add tracepoints to the notifiers infrastructure 2023-04-08 13:45:38 -07:00
nsproxy.c nsproxy: Convert nsproxy.count to refcount_t 2023-08-21 11:29:12 -07:00
padata.c padata: use alignment when calculating the number of worker threads 2023-03-14 17:06:44 +08:00
panic.c mm: remove arguments of show_mem() 2023-08-18 10:12:02 -07:00
params.c kernel: params: Remove unnecessary ‘0’ values from err 2023-07-10 12:47:01 -07:00
pid.c memfd: replace ratcheting feature from vm.memfd_noexec with hierarchy 2023-08-21 13:37:59 -07:00
pid_namespace.c memfd: replace ratcheting feature from vm.memfd_noexec with hierarchy 2023-08-21 13:37:59 -07:00
pid_sysctl.h memfd: replace ratcheting feature from vm.memfd_noexec with hierarchy 2023-08-21 13:37:59 -07:00
profile.c kernel/profile.c: simplify duplicated code in profile_setup() 2022-09-11 21:55:12 -07:00
ptrace.c ptrace: Provide set/get interface for syscall user dispatch 2023-04-16 14:23:07 +02:00
range.c
reboot.c kernel/reboot: Add SYS_OFF_MODE_RESTART_PREPARE mode 2022-10-04 15:59:36 +02:00
regset.c
relay.c kernel: relay: remove unnecessary NULL values from relay_open_buf 2023-08-18 10:18:55 -07:00
resource.c dax/kmem: Fix leak of memory-hotplug resources 2023-02-17 14:58:01 -08:00
resource_kunit.c
rseq.c rseq: Extend struct rseq with per-memory-map concurrency ID 2022-12-27 12:52:12 +01:00
scftorture.c scftorture: Pause testing after memory-allocation failure 2023-07-14 15:02:57 -07:00
scs.c scs: add support for dynamic shadow call stacks 2022-11-09 18:06:35 +00:00
seccomp.c seccomp: Add missing kerndoc notations 2023-08-17 12:32:15 -07:00
signal.c signal: print comm and exe name on fatal signals 2023-08-18 10:18:50 -07:00
smp.c smp: Reduce NMI traffic from CSD waiters to CSD destination 2023-07-10 14:19:04 -07:00
smpboot.c cpu/hotplug: Remove unused state functions 2023-05-15 13:45:00 +02:00
smpboot.h
softirq.c sched/core: introduce sched_core_idle_cpu() 2023-07-13 15:21:50 +02:00
stackleak.c stackleak: allow to specify arch specific stackleak poison function 2023-04-20 11:36:35 +02:00
stacktrace.c
static_call.c
static_call_inline.c static_call: Add call depth tracking support 2022-10-17 16:41:16 +02:00
stop_machine.c
sys.c prctl: move PR_GET_AUXV out of PR_MCE_KILL 2023-07-17 12:53:21 -07:00
sys_ni.c x86/shstk: Introduce map_shadow_stack syscall 2023-08-02 15:01:51 -07:00
sysctl-test.c kernel/sysctl-test: use SYSCTL_{ZERO/ONE_HUNDRED} instead of i_{zero/one_hundred} 2022-09-08 16:56:45 -07:00
sysctl.c arch: Remove Itanium (IA-64) architecture 2023-09-11 08:13:17 +00:00
task_work.c task_work: use try_cmpxchg in task_work_add, task_work_cancel_match and task_work_run 2022-09-11 21:55:10 -07:00
taskstats.c genetlink: start to validate reserved header bytes 2022-08-29 12:47:15 +01:00
torture.c torture: Stop right-shifting torture_random() return values 2023-08-14 15:01:08 -07:00
tracepoint.c tracepoint: Allow livepatch module add trace event 2023-02-18 14:34:36 -05:00
tsacct.c
ucount.c sysctl: Add size to register_sysctl 2023-08-15 15:26:17 -07:00
uid16.c
uid16.h
umh.c sysctl: fix unused proc_cap_handler() function warning 2023-06-29 15:19:43 -07:00
up.c
user-return-notifier.c
user.c kernel/user: Allow user_struct::locked_vm to be usable for iommufd 2022-11-30 20:16:49 -04:00
user_namespace.c userns: fix a struct's kernel-doc notation 2023-02-02 22:50:04 -08:00
usermode_driver.c
utsname.c
utsname_sysctl.c utsname: simplify one-level sysctl registration for uts_kern_table 2023-04-13 11:49:35 -07:00
vhost_task.c vhost: Fix worker hangs due to missed wake up calls 2023-06-08 15:43:09 -04:00
watch_queue.c watch_queue: prevent dangling pipe pointer 2023-06-06 10:47:04 +02:00
watchdog.c watchdog/hardlockup: avoid large stack frames in watchdog_hardlockup_check() 2023-08-18 10:19:00 -07:00
watchdog_buddy.c watchdog/hardlockup: move SMP barriers from common code to buddy code 2023-06-19 16:25:28 -07:00
watchdog_perf.c watchdog/perf: add a weak function for an arch to detect if perf can use NMIs 2023-06-09 17:44:21 -07:00
workqueue.c workqueue: fix data race with the pwq->stats[] increment 2023-08-29 09:52:16 -10:00
workqueue_internal.h workqueue: Drop the special locking rule for worker->flags and worker_pool->flags 2023-08-07 15:57:22 -10:00