It seems Canonical have done a bit of a U-turn on dropping 32bit support for Ubuntu, as many expected they would do. Their official statement is now out for those interested.
The most important part to be aware of is their new plan:
Thanks to the huge amount of feedback this weekend from gamers, Ubuntu Studio, and the WINE community, we will change our plan and build selected 32-bit i386 packages for Ubuntu 19.10 and 20.04 LTS.
We will put in place a community process to determine which 32-bit packages are needed to support legacy software, and can add to that list post-release if we miss something that is needed.
That's not the end of it though of course, eventually 32bit will be dropped which is inevitable really. Just not fully this time. Touching on this, they said in the post about using "container technology" to address "the ultimate end of life of 32-bit libraries" so hopefully by that time everything they need will be in place to make it super easy for users.
I'm glad Canonical have seen some sense on this, they clearly didn't communicate it well enough to begin with but they at least understand when they've made a big mistake like this and owning up to failures is part of what builds trust, so I'm happier now. Next time this happens, I just hope they give a very clear roadmap giving everyone proper time to prepare, which they didn't this time.
Their full statement is here. It will be interesting to see how Valve react, after announcing an end of Ubuntu support for Steam for Ubuntu 19.10 onwards.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Quoting: EikeQuoting: F.UltraThis is how things are done and decided in the real world all the time, the only difference now is that the immature Linux fanbase for some reason decided to run around in circles screaming that the world was ending.
You mean like Microsoft gave up 32 bit support? And enforced UWP only? Oops...
So tell me when Canonical gave up 32-bit support and enforced UWP only. Oh that it right this very thread exists only because Canonical decided to not give up 32-bit support.
What ever this now have to do with Microsoft?!
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Quoting: x_wingQuoting: F.UltraQuoting: TobiSGDQuoting: GuestI can see why they want to remove 32 bit libs because it's a ton of work.But a ton of work for whom? They still get the majority of their packages directly from Debian, throwing a patch on one or the other package and just compile. If Debian still supports newer versions of 32 bit libraries, how much work is there really to be done for canonical?
They get the base source code of each package from Debian, then they have to build the IA-32 version themselves, and provide support themselves. Considering the amount of packages in the repo it will take quite some time to build the packages for IA-32 and that is time taken from building for other archs and so on. If there where no cost for providing IA-32 builds then they clearly wouldn't have planned to throw them out to begin with.
The only real cost is QA. Building is normally cheap.
Currently Ubuntu have 6391 packages in Main, building that will take hours even for Canonical.
Seriously, do you people really think that Canonical decided to drop IA-32 for some other reason and then have their devs lie that it had to do with resources? What is next, UFO conspiracies, 9/11 Truthers, Freemasons, anti-vaxxers and anti-GMO fools?
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: F.UltraQuoting: EikeQuoting: F.UltraThis is how things are done and decided in the real world all the time, the only difference now is that the immature Linux fanbase for some reason decided to run around in circles screaming that the world was ending.
You mean like Microsoft gave up 32 bit support? And enforced UWP only? Oops...
So tell me when Canonical gave up 32-bit support and enforced UWP only. Oh that it right this very thread exists only because Canonical decided to not give up 32-bit support.
What ever this now have to do with Microsoft?!
We are talking about Ubuntu reverting their decision to not properly supporting 32 bit software anymore. You've said others were doing such stuff all the time. That's where Microsoft comes to mind quite naturally. Giving up 32 bits and enforcing UWP are two examples of stuff they couldn't do due to software that must be supported.
5 Likes, Who?
This might make PopOS! or MX Linux appealing.
https://www.linuxinsider.com/story/MX-Linux-Reinvents-Computer-Use-86058.html
https://www.linuxinsider.com/story/MX-Linux-Reinvents-Computer-Use-86058.html
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Quoting: F.UltraCurrently Ubuntu have 6391 packages in Main, building that will take hours even for Canonical.
Makes me wonder how Debian is able to do such an enormous feat with its AFAIR ~70K packages...
Quoting: F.UltraWhat is next, UFO conspiracies, 9/11 Truthers, Freemasons, anti-vaxxers and anti-GMO fools?
Will you refrain from such talk in future?
7 Likes, Who?
Quoting: EikeQuoting: F.UltraQuoting: EikeQuoting: F.UltraThis is how things are done and decided in the real world all the time, the only difference now is that the immature Linux fanbase for some reason decided to run around in circles screaming that the world was ending.
You mean like Microsoft gave up 32 bit support? And enforced UWP only? Oops...
So tell me when Canonical gave up 32-bit support and enforced UWP only. Oh that it right this very thread exists only because Canonical decided to not give up 32-bit support.
What ever this now have to do with Microsoft?!
We are talking about Ubuntu reverting their decision to not properly supporting 32 bit software anymore. You've said others were doing such stuff all the time. That's where Microsoft comes to mind quite naturally. Giving up 32 bits and enforcing UWP are two examples of stuff they couldn't do due to software that must be supported.
No I didn't say that others did such stuff all the time. What I said was that in the real world companies announce their plans, then they await comments from users and partners to see how said plans will be received after which the plans are either amended or put into production.
The problem here is that the Linux fanbase decided to see the announcement of plans as a foregone conclusion and then run around screaming.
4 Likes, Who?
I think we can learn a few lessons from this.
1. Oh, the irony: we could see how important Ubuntu is and how much Linux has progressed on desktops in the recent years. Greek schools, Madrid Linux etc.
2. Canonical is struggling and apparently needs some help either in people getting involved or in donations.
I really wonder how much effort is really needed for support, development and maintenance of Ubuntu to be what it is today. Not to mention Debian and all the other developers involved. It seems to me Linux is in a way an alchemical miracle.
1. Oh, the irony: we could see how important Ubuntu is and how much Linux has progressed on desktops in the recent years. Greek schools, Madrid Linux etc.
2. Canonical is struggling and apparently needs some help either in people getting involved or in donations.
I really wonder how much effort is really needed for support, development and maintenance of Ubuntu to be what it is today. Not to mention Debian and all the other developers involved. It seems to me Linux is in a way an alchemical miracle.
5 Likes, Who?
Quoting: EikeQuoting: F.UltraCurrently Ubuntu have 6391 packages in Main, building that will take hours even for Canonical.
Makes me wonder how Debian is able to do such an enormous feat with its AFAIR ~70K packages...
Quoting: F.UltraWhat is next, UFO conspiracies, 9/11 Truthers, Freemasons, anti-vaxxers and anti-GMO fools?
Will you refrain from such talk in future?
I was mentioning the number of packages in Main, not the total number of packages in Ubuntu since Main is where Canonical provides support. If we count every single package including Updates and Backports then Ubuntu have over 70k packages as well.
Debian receives corporate sponsorships and are a community effort while Canonical as a company have to pay for their own servers, power and personel.
If people drop the conspiracy claims then I'm fully prepared to drop the conspiracy accusations. I have no intention to call people names unnecessary.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: F.UltraNo I didn't say that others did such stuff all the time. What I said was that in the real world companies announce their plans, then they await comments from users and partners to see how said plans will be received after which the plans are either amended or put into production.
I missunderstood the reference, I guess. Still I hope other companies first talk to interested parties before making public announcements they have to retreat from bit by bit the following days. Doesn't make a good impression to many people, obviously.
Quoting: F.UltraThe problem here is that the Linux fanbase decided to see the announcement of plans as a foregone conclusion and then run around screaming.
Well, actually "immature" and "world was ending" were part of your statement, too.
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: TobiSGDQuoting: GuestI can see why they want to remove 32 bit libs because it's a ton of work.But a ton of work for whom? They still get the majority of their packages directly from Debian, throwing a patch on one or the other package and just compile. If Debian still supports newer versions of 32 bit libraries, how much work is there really to be done for canonical?
I think that this discussion on Twitter is interesting (imho) on that subject (Neal Gompa is from Fedora). :)
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