The headline makes it sound like they're dropping support for just the i386 architecture (as opposed to other x86 architectures, e.g., i686). The linked article makes it sound like they're dropping support for the 32-bit x86 platform entirely.<p>Are Ubuntu's 32-bit x86 packages limited to those targeting the i386 instruction set? As in, "we ship x64, or ancient i386, but nothing in between"?<p>Or do they use the i386 moniker used as an umbrella for all x86 architectures?
Random question.. they use i386 as their internal name.. but you can't actually run it on an Intel 386 right? I was under the impression that modern Linux kernels needed a Pentium Pro or newer.. meaning i586 or i686 would be more accurate?
I'm a little confused by the FAQ post in the linked article. Some of the questions make it sound like 32 bit <i>software</i> will also stop working? Are the compatibility packages going away too?<p>This would have some crappy implications for Wine and games in particular.
So long, my Atom D2500 homebrew router.<p>Say, what's the state of fanless dual (or even triple) NIC boards these days? Intel network chips please, the CPU can be whatever. It looks like I need one that does 64 bit before 18.04 runs out of support.<p>Edit: x86_64 CPU please, not ARM.
Bryan kept a track of what flavors have dropped i386 from their images. <a href="https://bryanquigley.com/pages/papers/ubuntu-drop-i386.html" rel="nofollow">https://bryanquigley.com/pages/papers/ubuntu-drop-i386.html</a>
Am I the only one who gets emotional here? I remember when I installed Linux Ubuntu 7.x on my first laptop (which it's still working in perfect condition). Truth is, I don't use this laptop anymore but I always wanted to install the latest Ubuntu just for the flash backs.
I have a 64-bit machine but I'm running 32-bit Debian because there's no good upgrade path, and I really don't want to reinstall because that would take a months to get everything set up again.<p>I'm running Debian not Ubuntu, but the absolute minimum they owe their users is an automatic upgrade path.
>There is lack of support in the upstream Linux kernel, toolchains, and web browser<p>Except firefox who become useless on 32 Bit after quantum I don’t have any problem with Debian on my netbooks. I am really curious about the “lack of support” in the kernel, Any idea?
I assume the same goes for the more lightweight Ubuntu-based distros Xubuntu and Lubuntu? What are som good alternatives to these that will continue to run on older 32-bit machines?
Why are they dropping i386? Surely 32 bit Ubuntu is still very much in demand in developing Countries or for people wanting to get old machines running with "okay" hardware? I can still get my IBM T22 to load a lightweight browser and navigate the internet.<p>The kernel still supports i386 and surely it's not that much effort to make sure Gnome and the various packages compile for it? They still plan to support 32 bit ARM systems?
I hope Debian will drop x86_32 distro too, and finally will support 32-bit multiarch properly as a forced consequence. Cross-compiling 32-bit Mesa on 64-bit Debian is a major pain, due to multiarch being incomplete, multilib not working and so on.<p>UPDATE: Looks like Ubuntu isn't dropping just the distro - they want to drop multiarch packages as well. That's already nasty.