Transcript

False meme image that says “bad news ipv4 fans. linus torvalds has announced removing ipv4 support from the linux kernel after the maintainers of the network stack got into a fight over WHAT KIND OF HRT gives the best results. this incident will impact 5 billion people and will make 95% of all network equipment on Earth binnable.” with fake screenshots of the linux kernel mailing list a girl calling another one a slur from 4chan over HRT choices and Linus Torvalds saying he will drop IPv4 support and asking the maintainers to learn to shut the fuck up.

Source: https://rivals.space/@deuxnise/115032302416832519

    • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
      1931·
      7 天前

      I’m glad that Linus clarified that it was High Resolution Timers. I was honestly thinking they were arguing about Hormone Replacement Therapy.

          • Flipper@feddit.orgEnglish
            20·
            6 天前

            There is the rule number one of the linux kernel: “We don’t break userspace.” Linux has refused fixes for buggy behavior in the past because of this rule. This would most certainly break userspace.

            Also the alt text of the original image states this is fake.

    • lmmarsano@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
      14·
      7 天前

      Thanks for the alt text & transcript in OP. It’s missing here, though.

      Transcript

      From: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
      To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
      Subject: [RFC] Remove IPv4 support from kernel, effective next merge window
      Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2025 10:42:00 -0700
      Message-ID: <20250815-drop-ipv4@linux-foundation.org>

      Hey folks,

      After yet another deeply technical and entirely calm discussion about HRT (High-Resolution Timers) that somehow devolved into 200+ replies, personal insults, and at least one GIF of a raccoon, I have decided it’s time to take drastic measures.

      Effective next merge window, we will be removing IPv4 support from the kernel. This will both (a) resolve the maintainers’ scheduling disputes, and (b) force the world into the IPV6 utopia we were promised back in 1998.

      If you need IPv4 after this point, you can either:

      • run an ancient kernel from before the change (good luck with the bugs), or
      • rewrite your applications to use IPv6 and learn to love colons in your addresses.

      Yes, I realize this will break roughly *everything *.
      No, I don’t care. I have already switched all my machines to IPv6-only, except for the toaster, which unfortunately still insists on using a 192. 168. x. x address. The toaster will be replaced.

      If you disagree with this decision, I suggest you take it up with the HRT maintainers. But please keep it civil this time. (Or at least keep the raccoon GIFs under 1MB.)

      - Linus

      • thedruid@lemmy.world
        41·
        7 天前

        What a bunch of babies. They can’t work together so they make the world suffer.

        Got it

        Edit. I looked. It’s a joke. They got me. I’m leaving this to show my shame

  • MattTheProgrammer@lemmy.world
    30·
    6 天前

    I’m ignorant enough that I didn’t realize this wasn’t actually happening until I read the comments. My networking knowledge is piss poor haha.

    • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
      7·
      5 天前

      Don’t worry about the network side of things. It’s open source. Before they turn everything on its head would be forked and it would be replaced.

    • Atomic@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      4 天前

      Maybe you shouldn’t treat random images you find on the internet as factual until you can verify the content.

      • MattTheProgrammer@lemmy.world
        1·
        3 天前

        I would have looked it up if the comments didn’t speak about it already. Don’t worry, I’m not a troglodyte when it comes to actually having critical thinking skills.

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      91·
      6 天前

      I still don’t have an IPv6 address over 4G with Vodafone. I want to run a web server on my phone, isn’t this a normal use case? Nat444 makes that pretty difficult, just let me use IPv6!

      • purplemonkeymad@programming.dev
        3·
        6 天前

        Cabled from Vodafone is not much better, ip6 does auto configure from the router with a local address, so it at least supports it. but no routable ips yet.

        • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          3·
          6 天前

          Actually on someone else’s network right now and think it’s cabled Vodafone and I do have IPv6. Only got android to play with right now though, apparently Vodafone are tight bastards for the range of addresses you can get.

          Edit: version of Android I am on only let’s you set a static IPv4 address, what a shit operating system

    • PieMePlenty@lemmy.world
      4·
      5 天前

      I wonder if that site pings an IPv6 address on the virgin network and updates the output automatically based on the ping result.

    • ulterno@programming.devEnglish
      3·
      5 天前

      They give 2 options: “Sign the petition” and “Tweet them!”, but you could also just en-masse “Switch providers” and make them rethink their strategy.

    • Y|yukichigai@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      2·
      5 天前

      I’m on Spectrum in the US and their “support” is somehow worse than just not having IPv6. Tons of dropped packets, shifting IP address ranges, and overall a lot of headaches. Tried everything I could to sidestep the issues but there was nothing doing. Eventually I just disabled IPv6 and the issues went away. Maddening.

        • themadcodger@kbin.earth
          3·
          7 天前

          Mine is Quantum Fiber, a sister of CenturyLink. CL has it, apparently QF doesn’t. Or at least not natively, rather 6rd. And then possibly not on the modem they installed? At any rate, I haven’t been able to find anything online.

            • themadcodger@kbin.earth
              1·
              6 天前

              🤷🏼‍♂️ When I had CL I could turn it on by enabling 6rd and it worked as expected. When I moved across town and got QF, their instructions didn’t account for it and following the same online instructions for CL don’t work. Others online seem to not have had any luck either, but some people’s comments make it sound like it’s the modem.

  • CodexArcanum@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    579·
    7 天前

    I’m kind of weirdly horny for Torvalds making unilateral decisions about long running controversies? Tell me what standards are best kernel daddy.

    Maybe next he can ban tabs and ‘\t’ from Linux? Everyone indents with spaces now, debate over.

  • JcbAzPx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    29·
    6 天前

    Please, at least 85% of that network equipment hasn’t been updated in 30 years and they’re not about to start now.

  • lightnegative@lemmy.world
    337·
    6 天前

    Ipv4 is simpler and therefore easier for my brain to comprehend.

    I deliberately disable IPv6 on all the devices on my home network because it’s really f**n annoying when some service tries to bind to localhost but picks up the IPv6 localhost instead of the IPv4 one

      • Honytawk@feddit.nl
        4·
        5 天前

        Just remembering an address alone is much simpler.

        4 numbers > a combination of numbers and letters in 8 groups

    • Johanno@feddit.org
      51·
      6 天前

      In a local network there is no point in using ipv6.

      It is interesting when you run out of ip addresses for the amount of devices you have.

      So in the open Internet.

      Unless I am missing something.

      • jj4211@lemmy.world
        3·
        6 天前

        A couple of things that IPv6 does better for local networks is link local addressing (fe80::). and multicasting.

        In IPv4, they kind of hacked something out of 169.254, but if you have more than one NIC, it pretty much becomes useless.

        If you have a service designed explicitly never to be accessed over a router, then you can live in fe80:: a lot more easily than trying to do the same thing with 169.254.

  • MissingGhost@lemmy.ml
    141·
    6 天前

    If you don’t use IPv6, you are behind. For me the transition was so hard, it’s a big step behind me, wouldn’t want to do it again.

    • fibojoly@sh.itjust.works
      24·
      6 天前

      I still remember my network lecturer telling us how IPv6 was the future and how we were running out of IPs back in… 1997.

      That same year, during my work placement, I was introduced to Squid and all sorts of network fuckery to compensate for those supposedly disappearing IPs.