Linux developers have been trimming the fluff in recent years, removing support for older processors that hardly anyone uses with a modern kernel anymore. With that said, it’s possible to run the latest kernel on some truly old metal. As a case in point, [Colin Maykish] just got it going on a Motorola 68008!

The rig in question is a Mackerel-68k—a homebrew single-board computer built around Motorola’s famous 68000 CPU line. This version in particular is running a 68008 rated at 8 MHz, though it’s overclocked to 14 MHz for a little more pep, and has just 3.5 MB of RAM. Despite these limitations, the board can run the mainline v7.1-rc6 kernel, booting into userspace and providing a very minimalistic BusyBox shell. Booting is slow, and doing much more than that is impossible without running out of RAM, but it’s an impressive feat nonetheless. [Colin] has also had the 68010 and 68030 chips running the kernel, too.

We’ve previously discussed efforts to bring Linux into the future while leaving old chips behind. Video after the break.