"throwaway" devices

But it's worth noting that systems like the Amiga and Atari ST which are considered landfill items in many places have excellent support in Linux 3.0, because people still love to hack them.

Whereas a comparatively new architecture like arch/cris isn't even compiling anymore if the linux-next autobuilds give a true impression.

So there is some tension between a hacker's view of that 1980's piece of hardware as a nice thing to hack on when they retire, and the general silicon industry's concept of hardware as something that has a planned support/life cycle, after which they pull the plug.