Fedora inches closer to dropping x86-32 support
- Reference: 1646911629
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/03/10/fedora_inches_closer_to_dropping/
- Source link:
This means building applications for 32-bit chips, not the Linux distribution itself. That's long gone. Various distros [3]started to discuss dropping 32-bit support in 2016. Ubuntu stopped offering an i386 desktop installation image after version 17.04 and a server image after [4]17.10 . (For the especially pedantic: there was a netboot image for 18.04 if you wanted to roll your own, and Lubuntu offered a 32-bit desktop of 18.10.)
Fedora hung on for a little longer: it only [5]dropped support for 32-bit x86 PCs after Fedora 30, released in April 2019.
[6]
What is slowly staggering towards the one-way exit door is support for 32-bit apps. Canonical [7]discussed dropping 32-bit app support in mid-2019, but due to an outcry, it was [8]forced to backtrack . For now, all the mainstream distros still support installing 32-bit libraries, which then allow 32-bit apps to be installed and run.
[9]
[10]
What is being discouraged is building on the i686 architecture. If the OS and all of its various subcomponents are 64-bit, then 32-bit support is only needed for running external, third-party apps – ones not provided with the OS. With this move, the Fedora Project is encouraging its contributors not to put in the extra work of checking that software works on x86-32 machines – describing such efforts as potentially being a "significant investment of time or resources, for no benefit."
If they no longer build for i686, then the theory is that they will no longer need to fix problems that only affect 32-bit machines.
[11]Out of Steam? Wine draining away? Ubuntu's 64-bit-only x86 decision is causing migraines
[12]Shedding the 'bleeding edge' label: If Fedora is only going to be for personal use, that doesn't work for Red Hat
[13]Ubuntu says i386 to be 86'd with Eoan 19.10 release: Ageing 32-bit x86 support will be ex-86
[14]Fedora 35 is out: GNOME 41 desktop, polished UI, easier-to-install closed-source apps
Some companies shipping closed-source Linux apps made this call years ago – for example, [15]Google dropped the 32-bit version of Chrome in 2015.
However, 32-bit support is still necessary for other closed-source apps, notably WINE and Steam. As we noted in January, [16]WINE 7 now has native 32-bit support – meaning that 64-bit WINE is able to install and run 32-bit Windows programs without needing 32-bit support in the underlying OS. Many games on Valve's Steam platform are still 32-bit, though.
[17]
This will in time have knock-on effects on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), which derives from Fedora. It may affect other distros, too, if they use packages which are principally built or maintained by Red Hat contributors. Debian, openSUSE Tumbleweed, Mageia, and Alpine, plus many smaller distros, still offer x86-32 editions.
For clarity, note that there are different flavours of x86-32. The i686 label means a P6-level chip: in Intel terms, from the 1995 Pentium Pro up to the original 32-bit Intel Core series in 2006. This is not the same as 80386, the original 1980s 32-bit x86 processor, which was [18]dropped from the Linux kernel way back in 2012. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.spinics.net/lists/fedora-devel/msg298533.html
[2] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/EncourageI686LeafRemoval
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2016/07/05/linux_letting_go_32bit_builds_on_the_way_out/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2017/10/20/ubuntu_1710/
[5] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/Stop_Building_i686_Kernels
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YiouuPtu1VTO5ZUWTIQX9AAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2019/06/19/ubuntu_axes_i386_support/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2019/06/24/steam_wine_ubuntu_32_bit/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YiouuPtu1VTO5ZUWTIQX9AAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YiouuPtu1VTO5ZUWTIQX9AAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2019/06/24/steam_wine_ubuntu_32_bit/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/25/what_is_fedora_linux_for/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2019/06/19/ubuntu_axes_i386_support/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/02/fedora_35/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2015/12/02/googles_chrome_32bit_linux/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/19/wine_7/
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YiouuPtu1VTO5ZUWTIQX9AAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2012/12/12/linux_no_longer_runs_on_386_cpus/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I've got a 32 bit box with Xubuntu installed on it. I was rather surprised when I upgraded it and it installed a VM to run the latest 64 bit version! Not tried wine on it though!
[Article author here]
I am intrigued by this.
You had x86-32 Xubuntu, you say? That means no later than 18.10, as that was the last release. 19.04 and onwards were x86-64 only:
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2018-December/004647.html
There was nothing to upgrade *to,* from 18.10.
Therefore, I am guessing you meant 18.04? That was the last LTS release of Xubuntu on x86-32.
So, I guess you mean you had Xubuntu 18.04 and you upgraded to the next LTS, 20.04? Is that right?
And it installed a VM _on its own_?
What, VirtualBox? KVM?
This sounds very odd and I would love to know more.
[Author here]
Well, FWIW, that's the position Mac owners were in. OS X 10.14 was the last release to run 32-bit code. 10.15 and newer (11, 12) only run 64-bit code.
Which is why I haven't upgraded my iMac past Mojave yet. I have some 32-bit apps for which no updates are available.
At some point, it is more or less bound to happen.
I wonder how many programs use a 32 bit installer, I found a lot of my programs which were 32 bit had 16 bit installers when I upgraded to a 64 bit version of Windows 7.
Fun to ensue
Can't wait to see my previous employer try to deploy a 32 bit application (that about 200 users connect to) on a new rollout that doesn't support 32 bit executables. Yeah, it's evil, but can't wait to hear the aftermath of the testing.
"What do you mean it won't run?"
I wonder if there are more 32-bit Intel machines running Fedora Linux in the wild compared to ARM(64) (i.e Raspberry Pi, Jetson Nano, Pcduino, etc) running Fedora Linux.
I rekon there is so it seems a bit strange to drop that and focus on a more niche platform. Raspberry Pi isn't necessarily niche, but Raspberry Pi running Fedora is.
That said, part of my reason to use older hardware is to also use the older operating systems (and lighter software) so I am not exactly affected by it.
Steam
The Steam client for Linux is still only 32bit, despite promises of a modern version Real Soon Now for at least 4 years.
It's the only reason I still have the i386 architecture on my machine.
Re: Steam
They're hoping to release it to time with the Year of Linux on the Desktop
If Microsoft dropped support for 32-bit applications tomorrow, I'd be having a fit right now (and it looks like I would be forced to move to WINE to play Max Payne).