Linux To Drop ARCnet Support For Old ISA & PCMCIA Hardware
Linux is set to remove support for ARCnet with ISA and PCMCIA adapters in the upcoming 7.2 kernel release. This decision follows a previous update that eliminated other outdated network code, streamlining the kernel. While ARCnet is still utilized in some industrial settings, the developers believe that support for these older adapters is no longer necessary.
- ▪Linux 7.1 removed various old network codes, reducing the kernel source tree by approximately 138 thousand lines.
- ▪Support for ARCnet with ISA and PCMCIA adapters will be dropped in the upcoming Linux 7.2 kernel cycle.
- ▪Developers acknowledge that while ARCnet is still used in some environments, it is unlikely to be used with ISA and PCMCIA cards.
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Linux To Drop ARCnet Support For Old ISA & PCMCIA Hardware Written by Michael Larabel in Linux Networking on 25 May 2026 at 06:20 AM EDT. Add A Comment With Linux 7.1 ISDN, ham radio, and other old network code was removed in lightening the kernel source tree by around 138 thousand lines of code. Some additional Linux networking code cleaning is expected for Linux 7.2 with the ISA and PCMCIA hardware around ARCnet set to be removed. For those still using ARCnet for that pre-Ethernet networking technology from decades ago, Linux kernel developers plan to end support for ARCnet with ISA and PCMCIA adapters. Linux developers acknowledge ARCnet is still used in some embedded / industrial / building automation environments and thus are not ripping out the ARCnet code in full.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Phoronix.