The Linux 7.1 kernel not only started the deprecation process for Intel 486 processor support, but also began to remove platform and driver code from the kernel to support the Russian Baikal processor. Baikal had high hopes as Russia's main solution for replacing Intel and AMD chips with local processors. Baikal initially planned to use the Arm architecture, then moved to MIPS, and years later switched back to an ARM-based design.
In the past ten years, some support codes for the Baikal platform have gradually entered the Linux mainline kernel. However, with the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, subsequent progress was significantly weakened or even interrupted.
Starting in 2024, some kernel maintainers with ties to Russia were removed from the maintenance list due to compliance requirements, including some Russian Linux developers responsible for Baikal CPU support. At the same time, due to sanctions, Baikal could no longer entrust Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to produce chips, and the company itself eventually went bankrupt. There is currently sporadic news about the "new Baikal project", saying that it may be restarted based on the RISC-V kernel, but the information is extremely limited, and it is still unknown who will be responsible for chip manufacturing in the future under the sanctions; this new trend and the existing Baikal support in the current Linux kernel are regarded as two independent issues.
In Linux 7.1, the Baikal platform code, which was poorly maintained and had limited shipments in Russia, began to be cleaned up. One of the latest ATA subsystem changes to be merged into the mainline has removed some Baikal-related bindings on the grounds that the SoC's upstream integration process "will not be finalized." In addition, there are more patches to remove Baikal support in the queue. The core reason is that "Baikal SoC and platform support cannot be finalized, and existing obsolete code should be removed."
For users who are still using Baikal hardware, the version that still retains relevant support in the mainline kernel is Linux 6.18 LTS. Staying on this long-term support version can still maintain existing functions. With the advancement of Linux 7.1, the kernel has taken a step further in cleaning up historical baggage and eliminating platforms that lack maintenance and have few actual deployments. The withdrawal of Baikal CPU support also in a sense marks a phased end for this road of trying to replace foreign x86 chips with local processors.