XDA Developers

Linux 7.2 removes driver support for the Hercules Monochrome ISA graphics adapter, a 1982-era GPU with a 720x348 monochrome display and 32KB of VRAM. The removal is part of a broader kernel cleanup of unused legacy hardware drivers. This follows Linux 7.1 dropping i486 support. While some Hercules cards still sell on eBay, no one is realistically running modern Linux distributions on them.

Linux 7.2 finally drops support for a 44-year-old graphics card

I didn't know they made graphics cards back then

If the card was 44 year olds it seem to me that the motherboard was at least 45-48 years old, if you have a critical system running on a almost half a century i86 16 bits CPU then TBH you deserve it. if its just for nostalgia c’mon you can keep an old kernel

The advantage of Linux was its support for old drivers.

if world collapse that would be handy to support simple graphics adapters.

I used that beloved graphics card.

I totally share the feeling of “Oh no, Linux’s dropping of legacy compatibility is like Windows, pushing for new hardware” and then I remember: it’s Open-Source, you can always use an old kernel.
There is no big corp forcing you to update and use specific hardware.
You still want an up-to-date kernel with vulnerability patches?
Update your half-a-century old hardware first: your hardware has more vulnerabilities than the software at that point!