Floppy Disk Is Not Dead — Linux Kernel Still Adding Improvement Code

Most of the new generation students or developers may not have used the floppy disk technology. But it is nostalgic for all the 90s kids. In any case, floppy disk support has already been ditched by various companies and even modern boards.

But it seems a little surprising that the Linux kernel is still showing interest in improving its support. Ahead of kernel 5.7 release, a new floppy patch lines up with 613 deletion and 586 lines of code for the next Linux kernel cycle.

Are People Still Using Floppy?

So, the question is obvious that’s why Linux is still adding changes. Though the modern devices fully discard floppy disk drive to focus only on hard disk drive or USB, people still have old computers and hence, they find the floppy as the most convenient way to transfer data.

Another reason could be that floppy is a removable, non-flash based memory that you can even reuse to transfer data between networks. The needs may also vary from person to person. Therefore, floppy patches are now pushed to kernel codebase, improving ARM architecture with other changes.

Among the other much-awaited improvements, Linux kernel already includes the code for AMD Zen 3 and new exFAT driver which is likely to be fully mainlined in kernel 5.7.

So if you still prefer to use a floppy disk, Linux kernel is there for you to provide support.

Source – Phoronix