Firewire is entering a new lease period, extending support on the Linux operating system through 2029. Pholonics report Linux maintainer Takashi Sakamoto has volunteered to oversee Linux’s Firewire subsystem during this time, working on Firewire’s core functionality and a few remaining sound drivers that still use the connectivity standard. It’s a schedule.
Additionally, Takashi Sakamoto says his research will help users migrate from Firewire to the latest technology standards, such as USB 2.0. Apparently, Firewire still has a large enough devoted fan base to warrant his six years of support. However, we suspect this will be the final stage of his Firewire support around the Linux operating system. By 2029, it’s highly likely that Firewire will eventually be completely removed from the Linux kernel.
Firewire is one of the oldest standards in modern computer history. Developed by Apple in 1986 as a serial bus solution for high-speed communication, it acted like a USB port, allowing users to connect external devices to their computers. However, FireWire has some advantages over the original USB revision, including Thunderbolt-like daisy chain support (up to 63 devices) and peer-to-peer networking support.
The original version was released in 1995, and had transfer speeds of up to 400Mbps, a 6-pin connector, and could power connected devices.Firewire went through a total of five revisions, with the final version being Released in 2012, it significantly accelerated its 1.57Gbps bandwidth.
Since 2012, Apple has effectively dropped support for Firewire as it introduced the new Thunderbolt standard. The first iteration of Thunderbolt featured 20 Gbps of bandwidth using 4 PCIe 2.0 lanes, much better than Firewire. Thunderbolt also had DisplayPort 1.1a capability for driving monitors.
Apple discontinued support years ago and Microsoft discontinued support for Windows 10. Again, support for Linux-based operating systems ends in 2029. I decided to take up the mantle and continue my support.
