Ubuntu is NOT dropping all 32-bit support going forward

[thx-1138]

https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/i386-arc ... 9-10/11263
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubunt ... 00245.html

[Update added by admin] Canonical has changed the plans: https://ubuntu.com/blog/statement-on-32 ... -20-04-lts

[xenopeek]

I said goodbye to i386 30 years ago when I bought my first 80486 but that's not what this looks to be about Ubuntu has previously stopped shipping a 32-bit edition of their ISOs so it's not about that either.

This is specifically about dropping 32-bit library support from Ubuntu 20.04, meaning any legacy 32-bit only software would become less convenient to run from that Ubuntu release. My thoughts are this will primarily affect commercial closed source software, where—due to excluding their community of users from participating in development—likely some older programs aren't making money for the company anymore and a migration to 64-bit native binary would thus be unlikely.

They offer several suggestions for users that will need 32-bit library support going forward, with remark that 32-bit support story will get more attention during 19.10 development cycle:

• Users who need support for i386 integrated natively into their OS can use Ubuntu 18.04 with security support until April 2023.
• 18.04 can be run in a chroot or container on top of later Ubuntu releases until 2023 with security support from Canonical, or beyond that without.
• 32-bit software distributed as snaps built with an 18.04-derived library runtime can reasonably be expected to work on later releases of Ubuntu for the foreseeable future (If this becomes a recommended solution, of course, we should work with the Snappy team to ensure it remains supported)
• Once we're past the point where security support is available for the libraries anyway, maybe there's no advantage anymore to having your 32-bit compat libraries managed via the packaging system either; so maybe you just make /lib/i386-linux-gnu a straight unpacked tarball of the libs you need, and no longer have to worry about the version-lockstep constraints of multiarch.

I think it's a sensible decision.

The 80386 processor was a leap forward when it arrived 34 years ago and it was a lot of fun programming assembly in 32 bit flat real mode Fond memories.

[pizzadude]

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/06/ubu ... ng-forward

Yes, it means that even 32-bit versions of packages are being dropped.

[thx-1138]

I said goodbye to i386 30 years ago when I bought my first 80486 but that's not what this looks to be about

...couldn't agree more - but i want to see the complaints /reactions around:
sky has fallen, why oh why, will Mint continue '...', Microsoft this & Microsoft that etc etc

[gm10]

No surprise there, it was always going to happen for the next LTS release at the latest. If Clem didn't forget, the 19.2 ISO should get support for installing 64-bit Mint to systems with a 32-bit UEFI, which is the only really still relevant use case for installing the 32-bit version. If you'll still be using a CPU that cannot do 64-bit by 2023 then colour me impressed.

It will mainly affect Wine packaging I should think, they need the 32-bit libraries to run 32-bit Windows programs.

[Pjotr]

Good! Progress.

Now when is that 128-bit architecture coming?

[Appoloin]

I haven't seen any comments from the Wine developers, but removing the multiarch is going to hurt them the most. My guess is this change will land in Mint summer next year.

[pizzadude]

[gm10]

Any bets that this means Steam in Ubuntu will be snapcraft-only?

[pizzadude]

Any bets that this means Steam in Ubuntu will be snapcraft-only?

I wouldn't be surprised.

[michael louwe]

...couldn't agree more - but i want to see the complaints /reactions around:
sky has fallen, why oh why, will Mint continue '...', Microsoft this & Microsoft that etc etc

.
Better option, read the many complaints here, ....... https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/p ... ages/page6 = eg some will be abandoning Ubuntu/Linux Mint and there is likely no comment about M$ this & M$ that but mostly Ubuntu this & Ubuntu that.

[gm10]

eg some will be abandoning Ubuntu/Linux Mint and there is likely no comment about M$ this & M$ that but mostly Ubuntu this & Ubuntu that.

It's funny insofar as the recent Mint-bashing articles also bashed LMDE on the basis that Ubuntu would never go away. Well, part of Ubuntu now is, yet Debian will keep compiling for 32-bit.

[thx-1138]

...michael: i did read the Phoronix thread.
Actually, Phoronix & /r/linux/new are among the first 5-6 sites that i visit daily after booting...
what's better than starting the day with linux-related news,
and a long-winded wall of typically toxic comments below for a few laughs

So, let's see (from what i gather, your options in a nutshell...)

7 months until Win7 goes to meet the dodo bird...and stops receiving updates...
Oh wait, you haven't updated that either since...2016 if i recalled correctly from your past statements?

Around a month probably until 19.2 gets released...and 'levels' in mintupdate also go to meet the dodo bird.

You still get 32-bit libs on Bionic / Mint 19.x until 2023 however if you need such...

So, i dunno...maybe stay in 19.1 until 2023...then see if Debian devs would still provide 32-bit libs?

[michael louwe]

7 months until Win7 goes to meet the dodo bird...and stops receiving updates...
Oh wait, you haven't updated that either since...2016 if i recalled correctly from your past statements?

.
Fyi, my main driver now is a 4G Android 8.0 tablet. Google's free-of-charge Android is based on Linux.

Occasionally, I use my Win 7 laptop to burn Windows or Linux ISO files onto DVD/USB. I have been thinking about which OS'es to upgrade to on my secondary dual-booted laptop. LM 19.2 and Ubuntu 20.04 will likely be non-options. My most likely options will be an "unofficial" Win 10 Ent LTSC 2019 = no need to upgrade until EOL in 2029, and maybe LM 19.0 or one of the other Linux distros.

My wish is for a tech giant like Google or Amazon to acquire a major Linux distro, eg Canonical Inc and make Ubuntu as good as Windows and MacOS or for IBM to make an LTS version of Fedora that will be as good as Windows and MacOS. With things as they are, desktop Linux is likely going the way of the dodo bird.

[thx-1138]

Fyi, my main driver now is a 4G Android 8.0 tablet. Google's free-of-charge Android is based on Linux.

Occasionally, I use my Win 7 laptop to burn Windows or Linux ISO files onto DVD/USB.

...see, there's something for anyone in this world...
every (dodo?) bird finds it's (walled) garden eventually: can't cheat karma...

[Hoser Rob]

... Debian will keep compiling for 32-bit....

But for how long? 32 bit support is dying. I used to run 32 bit on my little netbook but installed 64 bit on it as soon as I read that Google was dropping 32 bit chromium support, and I didn't even use it.

[athi]

My wish is for a tech giant like Google or Amazon to acquire a major Linux distro, eg Canonical Inc and make Ubuntu as good as Windows and MacOS or for IBM to make an LTS version of Fedora that will be as good as Windows and MacOS. With things as they are, desktop Linux is likely going the way of the dodo bird.

That depends on your definition of good. The only advantage I see with MS or Google taking over Canonical is the improved driver supports to Linux. Both will redo Ubuntu to fit their corporate agenda and these agenda are the reason I switch to Linux from Windows in the first place.

It is most likely Windows O/S and Mac O/S as they are currently that is going away. Linux is only a niche player on the desktop while Windows has not been the profit maker for MS for many years and Mac O/S is just as much a niche player as Linux on the desktop.

[gm10]

... Debian will keep compiling for 32-bit....

But for how long? 32 bit support is dying.

As it should. I'm not advocating for keeping 32-bit support for a mainstream desktop OS. If software developers don't make the switch to 64-bit now they never will, so time to force their hand. 32-bit will have been dead on the desktop for nearly two decades by the time 18.04 reaches end of life so it only makes sense to finally phase it out. Also if we're being exact then i386 support was already dropped years ago, anyway. Debian is only compiling 32-bit packages for i686 instruction sets these days, so many old 32-bit processors have already been unsupported for quite a while now.

So the outcry isn't because of hardware support, it is really only software written for 32-bit that cannot simply be re-compiled. And Wine needs the 32-bit libraries because Windows continues offering 32-bit versions and thus a lot of Windows software keeps getting compiled for 32-bit. Although they could try to translate 32-bit to 64-bit calls and return values internally, with all the downsides of the added complexity.

All that aside, even if Ubuntu's repos won't be multi-arch anymore, nothing is stopping third-party developers from supplying the 32-bit libs they need themselves. To the best of my knowledge even launchpad will keep building PPAs for 32-bit if the PPA owner requests it.

[michael louwe]

Fyi, my main driver now is a 4G Android 8.0 tablet. Google's free-of-charge Android is based on Linux.

Occasionally, I use my Win 7 laptop to burn Windows or Linux ISO files onto DVD/USB.

...see, there's something for anyone in this world...
every (dodo?) bird finds it's (walled) garden eventually: can't cheat karma...

.
As if Linux Mint/Ubuntu users are not birds also trapped in a walled garden, ie LM comes walled with preinstalled apps and a "store" of installable apps called Software Manager, just like Android. Similarly for the open-source Mozilla Firefox browser and her Add-ons Store or website. Your idea of desktop Linux is like a hypocrite parrot bird parroting on Android.

Google Android which is based on Linux, has been a runaway success in the mass consumer mobile OS market because she has a viable business model, ie offering free use of Android to users, in return for the users allowing Google to gain revenue from the sales of digital ads, aggregated user-data, etc. This can be considered a fair trade and is not very different from the business model of long-running free-to-air TV broadcast companies like ABC, CBS and FOX. Desktop Linux.? Ubuntu Touch.?
.
.
P S - With my 4G Android tablet, I am like a free bird and can get online everywhere I go = Mobile Broadband, ....... unlike Home/Office Fixed Broadband that is like a bird tied to a wall. I also pay less than my previous Fixed Broadband Internet plan. Seems, I have good karma.

[Hoser Rob]

My wish is for a tech giant like Google or Amazon to acquire a major Linux distro, eg Canonical Inc and make Ubuntu as good as Windows and MacOS or for IBM to make an LTS version of Fedora that will be as good as Windows and MacOS. With things as they are, desktop Linux is likely going the way of the dodo bird.

That depends on your definition of good. The only advantage I see with MS or Google taking over Canonical is the improved driver supports to Linux. ...

WHy would any of those want to take over Canonical? It's just nonsensical. After the Ubuntu Phione fiasco they look a bit Spinal Tap. And Google is already Linux based, using their own patches on Gentoo builds.