As you might have heard by now, Canonical has made the decision to drop 32bit support from Ubuntu 19.10 onwards.
Writing on the mailing list, as well as this post on Ubuntu's Community Hub, Canonical gave a reminder that the decision isn't coming without warning. It was proposed last year and it was followed up with another post detailing a final decision to be made in the middle of 2019. So here we are, the decision seems to have been made.
The problem isn't hardware, as likely around 99% of people nowadays have a 64bit capable computer. Going by our own statistics, from what 2,254 users told us only 4 are using a 32bit Linux distribution. The issue then, is mainly software and libraries needed to actually run 32bit applications. This is where it sounds like there's going to be plenty of teething issues, with a number of people not too happy about the decision.
Steam, for example, is one such application along with plenty of 32bit games that will likely never get updated, although Canonical did say they're "in discussions" with Valve about it. There's also GOG, Humble Store and itch.io which all provide a number of direct-download 32bit games, which do not supply the required 32bit libraries to run. It doesn't sound like they have been given any thought (at least they haven't been mentioned).
Another of the major problems being Wine, with a discussion now happening on their mailing list. The discussion doesn't seem to be too positive, with developer Henri Verbeet even saying "I think not building packages for Ubuntu 19.10 would be the only practical option.", although Andrew Eikum's idea of using the Steam Runtime could be an interesting way around it.
What are your thoughts?
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: no_information_hereEdit: Just checking and it looks like most of those work fine. Hmm. Does anyone have any comments on the KDE Debian spin?
I'm using KDE from Debian testing for a long time already. It works well, but rarely transitions of KDE frameworks libraries and Plasma have some mistakes, when packages don't migrate all at once, which can temporary break things. Maintainers try to avoid such cases, but it happened a few times in the past, that forced me to roll back to some previous snapshot until things started moving. In general, KDE in Debian can benefit from more developers and maintainers.
Last edited by Shmerl on 21 June 2019 at 7:29 am UTC
But fully dropping 32-bit support for good is a bad decision as not all software is open source and/or maintained. I love how you can run older Windows software in Linux -- software that does not work in Windows 10 anymore. This is one of the greatest benefits of Linux as you do not need to use WM to run older software if you happen to need to do that.
I don't care if the 32-bit libraries are inside the main system or in some sandbagged environment without needing to use VM to do that.
legluondunet Jun 21, 2019
Last edited by legluondunet on 21 June 2019 at 7:35 am UTC
no_information_here Jun 21, 2019
Quoting: ShmerlI'm using KDE from Debian testing for a long time already. It works well, but rarely transitions of KDE frameworks libraries and Plasma have some mistakes, when packages don't migrate all at once, which can temporary break things. Maintainers try to avoid such cases, but it happened a few times in the past, that forced me to roll back to some previous snapshot until things started moving. In general, KDE in Debian can benefit from more developers and maintainers.Thanks. I will watch the Buster release with interest. I am overdue for a distro update anyway...
Last edited by no_information_here on 21 June 2019 at 7:50 am UTC
Generally speaking though 32 bit OS still have their niche use and are needed. The decision to drop the architecture has a lot more implications outside gaming. But Ubuntu is not Debian, its desktop images are general purpose in their scope. I would say that dropping 32bit is a wise decision.
Ofc Canonical as a desktop OS provider doesn't have the "power" to force software developers hand. But given that most developers that deliver on linux also delivers on mac and Apple already did it for itself I expect this to go quite well for them.
Quoting: EhvisSomehow it sounds like this announcement came late for something that is supposed to happen in 19.10. Could it be that they're just testing the waters?non LTS releases are for testing and development, so in general 32bit support ends in 2021 and even then 18.04 will still get security updates till 2023. I don`t feel any decision could be too late for Ubuntu non LTS release.
Are there a good choice as it is recommend on Linus Tech Tipps.
Last edited by Spirimint on 21 June 2019 at 8:21 am UTC
Quoting: bird_or_cageQuoting: EhvisSomehow it sounds like this announcement came late for something that is supposed to happen in 19.10. Could it be that they're just testing the waters?non LTS releases are for testing and development, so in general 32bit support ends in 2021 and even then 18.04 will still get security updates till 2023. I don`t feel any decision could be too late for Ubuntu non LTS release.
Were almost half way into the 19.10 cycle. I think that is pretty late such a decision. And testing resistance is a good way to find out if it's worth going on with it for another LTS release.
Quoting: VodkaChickenIs there a Debian (stable) repo for more recent kernels and nvidia drivers or would I have to install that sort of stuff manually? Maybe it's finally time to give in to the Arch menace.
At the moment, you should install the upcoming stable (buster), which will officially release in some weeks. I'm living fine with Debian stable plus backports repo. Others prefer Debian testing, which is rolling.
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