Linux 中的软盘走向终结了吗？Torvalds 将软盘的驱动标记为“孤儿”
软驱 软盘

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> 在 Linux 内核最近的提交当中，Linus Torvalds 将软盘的驱动程序标记为孤儿。这标志着软盘在 Linux 中步入结束了吗？
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有可能你很多年没见过真正的软盘了。如果你正在寻找带软盘驱动器的计算机，可能需要去博物馆里看看。


在二十多年前，软盘是用于存储数据和运行操作系统的流行介质。[早期的 Linux 发行版](https://itsfoss.com/earliest-linux-distros/)使用软盘进行“分发”。软盘也广泛用于保存和传输数据。


你有没有想过为什么许多应用程序中的保存图标看起来像软盘？因为它就是软盘啊！软盘常用于保存数据，因此许多应用程序将其用作保存图标，并且这个传统一直延续至今。


![](/data/attachment/album/201907/30/231328oeq6jln6tyszg6gl.png)


今天我为什么要说起软盘？因为 Linus Torvalds 在一个 Linux 内核代码的提交里标记软盘的驱动程序为“孤儿”。


### 在 Linux 内核中被标记为“孤儿”的软盘驱动程序


正如你可以在 [GitHub 镜像上的提交](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/47d6a7607443ea43dbc4d0f371bf773540a8f8f4)中看到的那样，开发人员 Jiri 不再使用带有软驱的工作计算机了。而如果没有正确的硬件，Jiri 将无法继续开发。这就是 Torvalds 将其标记为孤儿的原因。



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> 越来越难以找到可以实际工作的软盘的物理硬件，虽然 Willy 能够对此进行测试，但我认为从实际的硬件角度来看，这个驱动程序几乎已经死了。目前仍然销售的硬件似乎主要是基于 USB 的，根本不使用这种传统的驱动器。
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![](/data/attachment/album/201907/30/231332pg62hgf23w33l79v.png)


### “孤儿”在 Linux 内核中意味着什么？


“孤儿”意味着没有开发人员能够或愿意支持这部分代码。如果没有其他人出现继续维护和开发它，孤儿模块可能会被弃用并最终删除。


### 它没有被立即删除


Torvalds 指出，各种虚拟环境模拟器仍在使用软盘驱动器。所以软盘的驱动程序不会被立即丢弃。



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> 各种 VM 环境中仍然在仿真旧的软盘控制器，因此该驱动程序不会消失，但让我们看看是否有人有兴趣进一步维护它。
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为什么不永远保持内核中的软盘驱动器支持呢？因为这将构成安全威胁。即使没有真正的计算机使用软盘驱动程序，虚拟机仍然拥有它，这将使虚拟机容易受到攻击。


### 一个时代的终结？


这将是一个时代的结束还是会有其他人出现并承担起在 Linux 中继续维护软盘驱动程序的责任？只有时间会给出答案。


在 Linux 内核中，软盘驱动器成为孤儿我不觉得有什么可惜的。


在过去的十五年里我没有使用过软盘，我怀疑很多人也是如此。那么你呢？你有没有用过软盘？如果是的话，你最后一次使用它的时间是什么时候？




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via: <https://itsfoss.com/end-of-floppy-disk-in-linux/>


作者：[Abhishek Prakash](https://itsfoss.com/author/abhishek/) 选题：[lujun9972](https://github.com/lujun9972) 译者：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出


OK
*In a recent commit to the Linux Kernel, Linus Torvalds marked the floppy disk drivers as orphaned. Could this be the beginning of the end of floppy disks in Linux?*

Chances are that you haven’t seen a real floppy disk in years. And if you are looking for a computer with floppy drive, you may have to visit a museum.

More than two decades ago, floppy disks were the popular medium for storing data and running operating systems on it. The [early Linux distributions](https://itsfoss.com/earliest-linux-distros/) were ‘distributed’ using floppy disks. Floppy disks were also used extensively for saving and transferring data.

Have you ever wondered why the save icons in many applications look like a floppy? Because it IS floppy disk. Floppy disks were popular for saving data and hence many applications used it as save icons and the tradition continues till date.

![Floppy Disk Icon Of Saving](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2019/07/floppy-disk-icon-of-saving-800x300.png)

Why am I talking about floppy disks today? Because Linus Torvalds has marked floppy drivers ‘orphaned’ in a commit to the Linux kernel code.

## Floppy disk drivers marked ‘orphaned’ in Linux kernel

As you can read in the [commit on the GitHub mirror](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/47d6a7607443ea43dbc4d0f371bf773540a8f8f4), the developer Jiri doesn’t have a working computer with floppy drive anymore. Without the correct hardware, continuing the development won’t be possible for Jiri. And that’s why Torvalds marked it orphan

Actual working physical floppy hardware is getting hard to find, and while Willy was able to test this, I think the driver can be considered pretty much dead from an actual hardware standpoint. The hardware that is still sold seems to be mainly USB-based, which doesn’t use this legacy driver at all.


![End Of Floppy In Linux](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2019/07/End-of-Floppy-in-Linux-800x450.png)

## What does ‘orphan’ mean in Linux kernel?

Orphan means that there are no developers able to or willing to support that part of code.

An orphaned module will probably get deprecated and removed eventually if no one else comes forward to continue maintaining and developing it.

## It’s not being removed immediately

Torvalds notes that floppy drives are still used by various virtual environment emulators. So the floppy drivers won’t be discarded straightway.

The old floppy disk controller is still emulated in various VM environments, so the driver isn’t going away, but let’s see if anybody is interested to step up to maintain it.


Why not just keep the floppy drive support in the kernel forever? It’s because this will pose a security threat. Even if there is no real computer using floppy drivers, the VMs still have it and this will leave the VMs vulnerable.

## End of an era?

Will this be the end of an era or will someone else come up and take the responsibility of keeping floppy support alive in Linux? Only time will tell.

I don’t think there is any love lost here with floppy drives being orphaned in Linux kernel.

I haven’t used a floppy disks in last fifteen years and I doubt many people either. What about you? Have you ever used a floppy disk? If yes, when was the last time you used it?