Peeve: why "i386"?

[Rahul Siddharthan]

Why do all the BSDs continue to refer to the 32 bit Intel architecture
as i386 even when they typically won't even install on an i386 any
more?  Why not call it x86, or ia32, if not in the kernel config then
at least in the release notes and documentation, as everyone else has
been doing for years?

I personally find "i386" ugly and antiquated-sounding; many people
find it confusing and misleading.  (Yes I know it's come up on the
lists before.  I haven't seen any good answers though, "for historical
reasons" isn't a good answer.)

R