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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday January 10 2018, @01:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the found-at-the-bottom-of-the-closet dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

[Yeo Kheng Meng] had a question: what is the oldest x86 processor that is still supported by a modern Linux kernel? Furthermore, is it actually possible to use modern software with this processor? It's a question that surely involves experimentation, staring into the bluescreen abyss of BIOS configurations, and compiling your own kernel. Considering Linux dropped support for the 386 in 2012, the obvious answer is a 486. This supposition was tested, and the results are fantastic. You can, indeed, install a modern Linux on an ancient desktop.

Source: https://hackaday.com/2018/01/07/go-retro-to-build-a-spectre-and-meltdown-proof-x86-desktop/


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by leftover on Wednesday January 10 2018, @01:30AM (17 children)

    by leftover (2448) on Wednesday January 10 2018, @01:30AM (#620294)

    How 'bout this: what is the most recent Xeon that is still pre-Management Engine? What if a hypothetical person wanted to build the most high-performance system possible without back doors? A quad-socket server board seems like an interesting place to start. At some point you might want to splice in parts of a newer chipset to get faster and more efficient memory but that is a much higher level of investment. I am just remembering hot-swappable everything from power supplies to memory and wondering if those interfaces could support modular upgrades.

    Bah. Too many projects and windmills to tilt at.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Wednesday January 10 2018, @01:36AM (8 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday January 10 2018, @01:36AM (#620297) Journal

    What if a hypothetical person wanted to build the most high-performance system possible without back doors?

    *currently known/suspected back doors

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    • (Score: 4, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 10 2018, @01:40AM (7 children)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday January 10 2018, @01:40AM (#620299) Homepage Journal

      All this talk about backdoors without one butt sex joke greatly disappoints me.

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      • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:27AM (5 children)

        by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:27AM (#620314) Journal

        I'm more of a boob guy.
        ;)

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        • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:46AM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:46AM (#620317)

          You have all been reported as commies and enemies of the computer

          • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @03:37AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @03:37AM (#620331)

            Your suffering from Paranoia

            • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @05:41AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @05:41AM (#620350)

              You're. You are. Contraction.

        • (Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:56AM

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:56AM (#620319) Homepage Journal

          I'm not knocking knockers but butts win when wisecracking.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @03:59PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @03:59PM (#620496)

          > I'm more of a boob guy

          FTFY

      • (Score: 2) by chromas on Wednesday January 10 2018, @03:44AM

        by chromas (34) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 10 2018, @03:44AM (#620333) Journal

        "That girl's standing right over there and you're telling him about our back doors?"

  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 10 2018, @03:44AM (6 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 10 2018, @03:44AM (#620332) Journal

    I see no interest in AMD in this thread. I haven't wanted an intel since way back when . . . https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/p3.htm [computerhope.com] That's like 19 years of Intel assisted invasion of privacy.

    • (Score: 4, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 10 2018, @04:10AM (5 children)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday January 10 2018, @04:10AM (#620335) Homepage Journal

      AMD's PSP is remotely pwnable with no patch in sight as well. Not sure if we've run the story or not yet though.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 10 2018, @05:26AM (4 children)

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday January 10 2018, @05:26AM (#620347) Journal

        This? Security Flaw in AMD's Secure Chip-On-Chip Processor Disclosed Online [soylentnews.org]

        Is this talk of AMD allowing people to disable the PSP enough to get you on the AMD train, or do they need to take it out altogether before you will trust them?

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        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 10 2018, @12:05PM (3 children)

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday January 10 2018, @12:05PM (#620438) Homepage Journal

          When I can disable the PSP/IME entirely with a bios setting or jumper on my motherboard of choice then prove such works by testing current exploits against the box I'll call it good enough. We're not quite there yet though.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:45PM (2 children)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:45PM (#620470) Journal

            This ^ exactly.

            Has there been a hardware "security" feature that has worked as intended? THAT would be news, wouldn't it?

            • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:55PM (1 child)

              by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday January 10 2018, @02:55PM (#620476) Homepage Journal

              The power cord. Pull it out of the power supply and your computer is utterly secure from anyone without physical access to the device. Mind you, there is some lag time if your computer includes a battery other than the CMOS one.

              --
              My rights don't end where your fear begins.
  • (Score: 1) by cwadge on Wednesday January 10 2018, @06:03AM

    by cwadge (3324) on Wednesday January 10 2018, @06:03AM (#620355) Homepage Journal

    Management Engine backdoors are a totally different set of problems than Meltdown / Spectre present. Even commodity systems without ME functionality are vulnerable to at least one of the latter two.