I think you miss the point.. Linux developers work on what they want to..
If there is intrest in fixing that then someone will.. Those who wish to
work on 386es will.. If you remove 386 support then they will make their
own version of linux or abandon linux all togeather.. It's not like linux
is made by some company and Linux says 'You and you work on this and that.
Forget about 386es'.. People do what they want.. If you WANT to
stop adaptec timeouts then why dont you find some time and contribute to
what YOU want and stop trying to tell the rest of us what to do.
As for there being more AIC7x cards and SMP machines then I suggest you
check the linux counter.. I for one have 5-10 386/486SLC computers at any
given time (I give them to people so the number is never constant).. They
run linux great and make good computers for deprived high school students
who dream of a real os while mommy and daddy's computer has W95 on it.. (I
also have a SMP machine, a BT-948, and a few 1540[b-c]s.. But no 2940s)..