Intel Kills Clear Linux OS As Support Ends Without Warning (nerds.xyz)
- Reference: 0178414248
- News link: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/25/07/19/0016204/intel-kills-clear-linux-os-as-support-ends-without-warning
- Source link: https://nerds.xyz/2025/07/intel-kills-clear-linux-os/
> Intel has quietly [2]pulled the plug on Clear Linux OS , officially ending support for the [3]once-promising [4]Linux distribution that it had backed for nearly a decade. Effective immediately, the company says it will no longer provide any updates, security patches, or maintenance for the operating system. In a final blow, the Clear Linux OS GitHub repository is now [5]archived in read-only mode .
>
> The move was announced with little fanfare, and for users still relying on Clear Linux OS, there's no sugarcoating it... you need to move on. Intel is urging everyone to migrate to an actively maintained Linux distribution as soon as possible to avoid running unpatched software.
"Rest assured that Intel remains deeply invested in the Linux ecosystem, actively supporting and contributing to various open-source projects and Linux distributions to enable and optimize for Intel hardware," the company said in [6]a statement . "A heartfelt thank you to every developer, user, and contributor who helped shape Clear Linux OS over the last 10 years. Your feedback and contributions have been invaluable."
[1] https://slashdot.org/~BrianFagioli
[2] https://nerds.xyz/2025/07/intel-kills-clear-linux-os/
[3] https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/01/12/1724210/intels-clear-linux-distribution-offers-fast-out-of-the-box-performance
[4] https://linux.slashdot.org/story/24/08/21/1958234/ryzen-9-9950x-performs-16-faster-on-intel-optimized-linux-distro
[5] https://github.com/clearlinux
[6] https://community.clearlinux.org/t/all-good-things-come-to-an-end-shutting-down-clear-linux-os/10716
You keep using that word. I don't think it means w (Score:2)
> "Your feedback and contributions have been invaluable."
Were they invaluable? Now they are zero.
Re: You keep using that word. I don't think it mea (Score:2)
That's the penultimate definition.
Re: (Score:2)
"Penultimate" isn't a synonym for "ultimate"—it means the thing before the ultimate. Likewise we have penumbra for the blurry edge of a shadow (umbra). This results in some truly special words like "antepenult," meaning "the thing before the thing before the final thing," commonly used when discussing where the stress/accent falls in a Greek or Latin word.
"Invaluable" does indeed mean "not able to be valued" when analyzed morphologically, but the standard usage of it is indicating something is beyond
Re: (Score:2)
I knew most of this but learned a bit from you. My use of penultimate was actually an attempt at a joke in this case. English is certainly confusing as a second language sometimes, especially for those coming from languages with no articles, mininal genders, very few tenses, significant assumed context (sentences that don't require subjects or objects), and so forth. I don't understand why English needs both flammable and inflammable. Things like this are at least one source of confusion. Time for Newspeak?
Re: (Score:2)
> "Inflammable" however actually means "able to be inflamed," as in "put in flame" or "set on fire." The confusion comes from assimilation of the Latin preposition "in" (which we have as "in" or "on") instead of the more typical prefix "in-" (which demarcates negation.) You don't have to look very far for other words where "in" doesn't mean "not": indicate, inherit, imply, investigate, indict, involve...
No, the confusion comes from the fact that "inflammable" has a perfectly good synonym - flammable, which is
Re: You keep using that word. I don't think it mea (Score:2)
Intel value is also falling, they cut costs and side projects to survive.
Share prices doesn't always reflect actual value.
Re: (Score:2)
>> "Your feedback and contributions have been invaluable."
> Were they invaluable? Now they are zero.
Guessing pretty much everyone fired not-for-cause has heard that line and felt that.
I'd never heard of this distro, in truth (Score:2)
But still - I imagine they had a non-trivial number users who bought in just because of the Intel name. Poor saps.
Re: (Score:2)
[1]Phoronix benchmarks [phoronix.com]
[1] https://www.phoronix.com/review/amd-strix-halo-linux-7
Re: (Score:2)
You could run gentoo. heh heh. Or LFS, hahahaha.
You could build linux and libc with processor-specific flags.
You know this is not the first time Intel made an Intel-specific Linux and then abandoned it, right?
Re: (Score:2)
I liked the stateless design though. It's always a pain to remember the changes to the system config files that accumulate over the years.
Re: I'd never heard of this distro, in truth (Score:2)
Couldn't you just, you know, fork off a new distribution from the sources and keep it going? I'm positive the users that are dependent on this very particular Linux distribution would happily donate their time and money to the cause...
Or just switch to Red Hat, or Ubuntu, or...
Re: I'd never heard of this distro, in truth (Score:2)
That's cute, you think they had a non-trivial user base... how precious.
Unsurprising (Score:2)
Intel is awful at software support. Looking at you, quark and galileo boards...
And nothing was lost? (Score:2)
I am pretty connected in the Linux news/user space. Everything I run at home, work, for friends, user group, etc for decades is Linux. Servers, desktops, laptops, appliances, virtualized, embedded, you name it. I have never seen *ANYONE* say they have used, had interest in, or have even seen Clear Linux in use anywhere.
I am guessing it didn't really have much impact.
Re: (Score:2)
I've never heard of it until now. Intel did a better job of killing it by supporting it. But then that's true of many things.
Re: And nothing was lost? (Score:2)
Apparently may /. readers have strong opinions about something they never heard of before the story was published - how odd...
Right timing (Score:2)
I was in the middle of deciding if I should get an Intel or an AMD motherboard...
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps a reading comprehension mishap has occurred here, but there is no rational way to read this such that it should contribute to your decision. Failing to support Linux is not an option Intel has 2025, and dropping Clear Linux OS does not indicate that they're doing this.
Re: Right timing (Score:2)
Intel doesn't make motherboards anymore, but apparently your architecture decision was based on their corporate support for a Linux distribution you never even heard of until you read this story? That's amazing - I choose my systems based on price, performance, and if they include integrated graphics and an OEM cooler, but hey - you do you...
Second Verse, Same as the Frist (Score:2)
I put [1]Moblin [wikipedia.org] on my Acer Aspire, it was lovely. Guess how that story ends, hint, it actually involves the death of another Linux distribution that it took down with it.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moblin
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry for your loss:)
Re: (Score:2)
It's why I wouldn't have run this one even if I had heard of it. I really liked Moblin, but it wouldn't run on anything non-Intel anyway, so I never put it on anything else. I think I might actually have that Acer still, but I do not use it.
I am waiting for another AMD-based PC to come in the mail right now, a mini with a 5825U — the last AMD notebook/minipc processor I could find with really low consumption, 15W... And I have a Zen3 desktop too, so I can share optimized binaries between the systems.
Re: (Score:2)
I've been a Debian user for 25+ years, never had complaints (except for the systemd switcheroo, which still bugs me, and the fact that the distro incremental upgrades fail every 10 years or so, requiring a complete reinstall).
I'm with you on low power minipcs, I like to leave them headless running 24/7 and login using chromebooks. Keeps the system clean for simulations and calculations which is what I mainly care about. The Chromebooks are just ultra cheap and convenient web browsing appliances for me, I
welp (Score:1)
Welp, I'm glad my laziness switching my server VMs over to Clear paid off for once.
I think it was the one-two gut punch... (Score:2)
I think it was the one-two gut punch of Colbert being cancelled and CPB/NPR losing federal funding - the lead developers keeps out of their moms basement to find out what happened, and their hands slipped on the handrail from too much caked-on Cheetos dust and they crashed thru the stairs, trapped until rescue workers come to rebuild/reinforce the stairs...
Or, Intel was tired of throwing money down a hole for an OS no one cared about or used to any great extent.
Definitely one of the two choices above.
Archived, so what, fork it (Score:2)
> In a final blow, the Clear Linux OS GitHub repository is now archived in read-only mode.
Irrelevant, fork it.
I just installed it! (Score:2)
I'm sad now. That is all.