You can if you emulate a CPU that does have an MMU. Someone has actually done this to get Linux booting on an Intel 4004. Another one got Linux to boot on a Commodore 64.
They tried running Linux on their ENIAC, but someone accidentally tipped over one of the crates of punch cards which has unfortunately set the project back a few months.
What was it, the ENIAC?
Linux doesn’t run on anything below a 386 because it requires a MMU.
(Some people have made forks that can run on 286s etc., but those changes have never been part of the mainline kernel.)
You can if you emulate a CPU that does have an MMU. Someone has actually done this to get Linux booting on an Intel 4004. Another one got Linux to boot on a Commodore 64.
386 support was dropped years ago.
What can I run on a Transmeta Crusoe?
They tried running Linux on their ENIAC, but someone accidentally tipped over one of the crates of punch cards which has unfortunately set the project back a few months.