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Ubuntu seems to be poising itself to letting 32-bitters alone in the dark:https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2016-June/039420.html
in 2018, the question will come if we can effectively provide security support on i386.
cross-grading between i386->amd64 is not something we can reliably ship. We must continue [to] provide the i386 port, to support multiarch and 3rd party legacy application that are only available as i386 binaries.
Building i386 images is not "for free", it comes at the cost of utilizing our build farm, QA and validation time. Whilst we have scalable build-farms, i386 still requires all packages, autopackage tests, and ISOs to be revalidated across our infrastructure. As well as take up mirror space & bandwidth.
Thus the question is what can we and what should we do to limit i386 installations before they become unsupportable?
In essence this would mean April 2021 as the sunset for i386 as the host/base OS architecture. And April 2023 to run legacy i386applications with security support.
I do use, from time to time, a (then, in 2009) top-of-the-notch 3.4GHz P-IV, for the little gaming I do and for printing. But I did notice even it is easily overwhelmed by many javascript-laden sites. How many soylentils are going to fight tooth and nails to keep their 32 pc's up and running beyond 2018, are 32 bit platforms of any relevance today aside as for IoT or CNC processes?
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Tuesday July 05 2016, @07:36PM
I normally give older systems away to family/friends who need them so I don't have anything 32 bit anymore. Even if I did have a 32 bit system, Ubuntu (or a derivative) would not be the OS running on it.
The family is a different story though. I think my sister is running some ubuntu derivative... Zorin or something, and my parents are both probably running kubuntu, though Dad might be on Mint. Still derivative i believe. Dad and sis could both handle a linux that didn't have training wheels, but they have that whole "I like to get shit done, not fix my OS" mentality.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday July 05 2016, @08:02PM
Dad and sis could both handle a linux that didn't have training wheels, but they have that whole "I like to get shit done, not fix my OS" mentality.
Same with my wife who runs some oldish gnome ubuntu combination. She only upgrades when I insist. She doesn't deal with change well.
The 47th virus her machine caught years and years ago while she was still on windows is when I informed her that tech support was going on strike till she switched to Linux. That threat, and a then-new Dell with Factory installed Linux was enough to get her over the hump.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Tuesday July 05 2016, @08:17PM
That was kind of what forced mom into Linux. Dad lets her have a Windows install for the Sims, but has made it clear that it's not to be used for anything browser related. That's still not perfect but it does reduce the number of vectors available.
Dad actually does tinker a little with more interesting distros once in a while, but he keeps a dual boot with his standard linux on one boot and whatever experimental one he's playing with on the other.
To be honest, I've kind of given up on Linux for the most part, though my gaming box is Windows/Korora for the time being. My i7 (where the serious work happens) is BSD, and that's where I'd like to wind up eventually with the gaming box too if I could just get a couple more games working in Wine.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!