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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 06 2016, @01:20AM
i386 enthusiasts need a passionate, plain-talking leader willing to stand up and say enough is enough [cbsnews.com].
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 06 2016, @02:27PM
386 enthusiasts aren't being told what to do. They still have the distros that were originally installed on them to choose from. They still have all the updates that were available, stashed on a mirror somewhere. They can still pick and choose among the entire range of distros that were ever available for the 386.
They just can't expect other people to spend time and effort maintaining every version of every distro out there for a very small market segement. Let's get that as accurate as possible - it's a very small segment of a market that doesn't pay.
Now, if some enthusiasts were enthusiastic enough to fork the kernel, a desktop environment or six, along with all the supporting utilities and software, and make their own kernel - then fine. But, again, they can't really expect everyone else to help them support their new special-purpose distro.
Take me for instance - I don't pay anyone to maintain a distro. Now and then, I'll toss a twenty dollar bill at someone, because his/her work pleases me. That entitles me to just about diddly squat. If in five years time, I distribute $500 among twenty or thirty developers, I have zero claim on their time or attention. Generally, I can join a forum, and voice my opinion. I've been asked to vote on issues, either because I was a member, or because I was on the mailing list after making a donation. But, I have no real claim on their time, attention, goals, or anything at all.
So - enthusiasts? They are in the same boat I am. Either they make their own, or they are left out in the cold. Those are the only alternatives to taking what is being offered, when the offering is free.
I like that word, "free". The enthusiasts are free to do as they like. Develop for themselves, continue using unsupported systems, give up their ancient systems, or whatever else they think of.