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
      16·
      1 year ago

      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
            10·
            1 year ago

            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.

        • Treczoks@lemmy.world
          2·
          1 year ago

          I noticed. But sometimes, LT can be a bit explosive, and we all know that devs can be bitches about their code. I would not put it past Linus that he actally threatens some fully nuclear option to bring some boneheads to reason.

    • lmmarsano@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
      0·
      1 year ago

      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
        21·
        1 year ago

        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

    • AppleStrudel@reddthat.comEnglish
      02·
      1 year ago

      Well I’m not going to switch away my perfectly functional mesh routers that uses IPv4 as using IPv6 on a local net that I may sometimes need to type in manually is rather stupid. And that would also bin my routers, so I’m not doing that either.

      Oh well, I guess it’s been fun guys, no more Linux for me due to potential future security issues.

        • AppleStrudel@reddthat.comEnglish
          0·
          1 year ago

          No. But if this is true (which I do doubt completely, Linus can’t be this dumb to singlehandedly cripple his OS), this should also affect every intranet address.

          The current description of IPv6 intranet is just ridiculously dumb anyway. Should I want to ssh into a local device, I’ll have to type in for example fd9e:9aa0:c00f:1::a, with only the fd part being the same for all intranets rather than 192.168.1.10 with 192.168 generally always being the same.

          Edit: wait… Are you telling me to set DNS redirects on all my local devices? Yeah, that’ll work, but why the even…

          • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
            2·
            1 year ago

            Pihole automatically adds clients that get an IP from its DHCP component. All my clients are server.local, client1.local, tv1.local, etc. So I can use their DNS name everywhere.

            Even if it don’t want to use pihole(why?), you can edit the SSH config and add addresses for each host so you can just type

            ssh server
            • AppleStrudel@reddthat.comEnglish
              0·
              1 year ago

              Or I could also just edit /etc/hosts if I’m just accessing stuff from my computer. I mean, I understand there are ways around this pain point. But, on IPv4, I wouldn’t have to do anything? Can’t really beat that, right?

          • lengau@midwest.social
            2·
            1 year ago

            I don’t think I’ve entered an IP address for a local device in years. Everything is accessible using <hostname>.local thanks to mDNS. Avahi has been doing this for… 20 years I think?

    • ulterno@programming.devEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      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.

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      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
        2·
        1 year ago

        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
          1·
          1 year ago

          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·
      1 year ago

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

    • Y|yukichigai@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      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.

  • MattTheProgrammer@lemmy.worlddeleted by creator
    8·
    1 year ago

    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
      5·
      1 year ago

      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·
      1 year ago

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

      • MattTheProgrammer@lemmy.worlddeleted by creator
        1·
        1 year ago

        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.

  • folken@lemmy.world
    6·
    1 year ago

    Can we just treat this as real? Post it everywhere. You know in a sort of “alternative facts” / flat earth sort of way. So maybe the planet finally moves on from ipv4.

        • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
          4·
          1 year ago

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internetwork_Packet_Exchange

          Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) is the network-layer protocol in the IPX/SPX protocol suite. IPX is derived from Xerox Network Systems’ IDP. It also has the ability to act as a transport layer protocol.

          The IPX/SPX protocol suite was very popular through the late 1980s and mid-1990s because it was used by Novell NetWare, a network operating system. Due to Novell NetWare’s popularity, IPX became a prominent protocol for internetworking.

          (Just to be clear, IPX is not going to take over, and my above comment was intended to be humorous.)

  • MissingGhost@lemmy.ml
    4·
    1 year ago

    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
      13·
      1 year ago

      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.

        • themadcodger@kbin.earth
          0·
          1 year ago

          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·
              1 year ago

              🤷🏼‍♂️ 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.

  • JcbAzPx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

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

  • B-TR3E@feddit.org
    2·
    1 year ago

    As a modest proposal, let’s just kill anyone who disagrees. These troglodytes had long enough time to get on speed with the world and human progress cannot further afford individuals unwilling to adapt.

    Renewal! Progress! Electrification!