Comment 7 for bug 1435695

~ 2 years later ... :-)

For item 2, Intel now* documents what CPU family and stepping(s) are covered by each "Intel Processor Microcode" data file bundle. However, it would be better just point to the authoritative location, rather than engaging in lots of copy-pasta (yes pun) from the upstream source. See additional comment below.

(*) As of the 20180312 release, which is the first non-emergency release since Spectre/Meltdown et al surfaced.

For item 3, I'd suggest adding that sentence + code example to the README, if not already added.

For item 1, 2, and 4, this again could be a single line in the .deb Description or README that points back to the canonical (lower-case-C) URL for each data file bundle release upstream.

  For example, the 20171117 release was https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27337/Linux-Processor-Microcode-Data-File

  ... and the 20180312 release is https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27591/Linux-Processor-Microcode-Data-File

Intel also has a far more human consumable form of the information in their "Microcode Update Guidance" document, which (at present -- 2018.03.17) gets revised on a quasi-weekly cadence. Unfortunately it does not have a long-lived URL, as older editions get retired out.

March 2018 URL is https://newsroom.intel.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/03/microcode-update-guidance.pdf

Perhaps Canonical could lobby for some form of longer-lived URL.