Can we remove the Zone_DMA?

I'm a newbie on the linux kernel. Now I study the source code of Linux .I have a question in the following about ZONE_DMA。


 

In Linux, The Memory is divided to three zone. They are Zone_DMA 、Zone_NORMAL and Zone_HIGHMEM。The ZONE_DMA has the effect that the Direct Memory Access (DMA) processors for old ISA buses have a strong limitation: they are able to address only the first 16 MB of RAM. SO ,we must set a zone for the DMA on ISA bus。 And I suspect that the hardware has developed so quickly .And in this days the ISA has been weeded out。And so ,if we not defined the ZONE_DMA, is the system be effected? And why not remove ZONE_DMA from the kernel . If it cann't to do so,the compatibility is the only reason?

Talk about it : http://lkml.org/lkml/2010/4/4/2

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