Loongson-3 LoongArch laptop platform extras
Platform glue for laptops built around Loongson-3 LoongArch CPUs, handling ACPI hotkeys, backlight, and other vendor-specific controls on Chinese-market notebooks. LoongArch is a domestic Chinese instruction set, and Loongson has continued shipping new client and mobile silicon such as the LS3A6000 and the 3B6000M announced in early 2025.
recommendation
Worth keeping but documenting its niche audience, since the hardware is mostly sold inside China and unfamiliar to most Linux users elsewhere. The code is actively maintained, with substantive fixes landing as recently as June 2025, and Loongson is still launching new LoongArch laptop chips, so there is no case for removal.
repository signals
sources
- git.kernel.org
Upstream activity is recent for this directory; local shell `git log` showed substantive commits on 2025-06-07 and initial merge on 2022-10-12.
- cateee.net
LKDDb identifies CONFIG_LOONGSON_LAPTOP as the Generic Loongson-3 Laptop Driver, bound to ACPI HID LOON0000 and present from Linux 6.1 through current development kernels.
- loongson.cn
Loongson continued marketing LoongArch client silicon (LS3A6000) for desktops and embedded/client systems into the current product generation.
- tomshardware.com
As of 2025-04-04, Loongson was still announcing new mobile/laptop-oriented LoongArch silicon (3B6000M), indicating ongoing new-platform investment rather than legacy-only status.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Real driver directory: contains `loongson-laptop.c`, Kconfig, Makefile, and a module entry point. Shell inspection showed this is an ACPI/input/backlight laptop platform driver for Loongson-3 systems. Shell `git log` found 7 substantive commits since 2022, including three fixes/features on 2025-06-06/07, so this is not dormant. Web search yielded no obvious lore removal/deprecation thread; absence of removal evidence plus fresh fixes argues against deprecate/remove. Deployment is likely niche and region-specific, so `deployments_today` is `low`, but current LoongArch client/mobile products in 2025 mean the hardware is still sold new. Source provenance: kernel.org log URL via canonical recall, dates verified by shell `git log`; LKDDb and Loongson/Tom's Hardware URLs obtained via web search.