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Update: Canonical are now saying 32bit libraries will be "frozen" and not entirely dropped.

Original article:

Things are starting to get messy, after Canonical announced the end of 32bit support from Ubuntu 19.10 onwards, Valve have now responded.

Speaking on Twitter, Valve dev Pierre-Loup Griffais said:

Ubuntu 19.10 and future releases will not be officially supported by Steam or recommended to our users. We will evaluate ways to minimize breakage for existing users, but will also switch our focus to a different distribution, currently TBD.

I'm starting to think we might see a sharp U-turn from Canonical, as this is something that would hit them quite hard. Either way, the damage has been done.

I can't say I am surprised by Valve's response here. Canonical pretty clearly didn't think it through enough on how it would affect the desktop. It certainly seems like Canonical also didn't speak to enough developers first.

Perhaps this will give Valve a renewed focus on SteamOS? Interestingly, Valve are now funding some work on KWin (part of KDE).

Looks like I shall be distro hopping very soon…

To journalists from other websites reading: This does not mean the end of Linux support, Ubuntu is just one distribution.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Steam, Valve
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deathxxx Jun 23, 2019
If Valve move to FreeBSD, that will be great! Because BSD is more faster than Linux. Only AMD cards will have no binary drivers, so will force to use Mesa. For Nvidia is OK. PlayStation uses BSD already and we saw how it run.
riusma Jun 23, 2019
Quoting: Prime_EvilI am heartened by the fact that a number of Ubuntu derivatives such as Mint and Pop_OS! have indicated that they will continue to offer 32-bit support in some form. Has anybody heard from Elementary or KDE Neon yet?

Some answers in this discussion on Twitter.


Last edited by riusma on 23 June 2019 at 9:57 am UTC
mylka Jun 23, 2019
Quoting: deathxxxIf Valve move to FreeBSD, that will be great! Because BSD is more faster than Linux. Only AMD cards will have no binary drivers, so will force to use Mesa. For Nvidia is OK. PlayStation uses BSD already and we saw how it run.

macos is also based on BSD and we know how that goes

I can not believe they do that. that is a suicide mission for ubuntu and ubuntu based distros and i hope they overthink this
razing32 Jun 23, 2019
Quoting: ElectricPrismThere needs to be a Ubuntu Devs meme where they are sitting around a round table and are like What Terrible Idea Can We Come Up With This Year?

It's not that 64-bit shouldn't overtake 32-bit in the app / game space, but in the library space it's not a sane solution.

As these problems come up and with developments in ARM, POWER9, RISC I am beginning to think that binary distros are not the way.

What I'm afraid of is what it will cost to switch to a source package manager distro -- I am under the impression that even Gentoo has some ideology and thinking in implementation form that is stuck in 2008.

It's a shame Ubuntu couldn't learn a lesson from Gobo Linux where they organize packages /Programs/X-Library/V.XX/[files] -- if Linux took a page from their book we would have never needed Snaps or Flatpaks because multiple dependency versions could co-exist, and on servers where security matters they could simply require the latest version or have a secure channel of approved versions completely mitigating the necessity of LTS and having the best of Rolling Release and Point Release stability and freshness all while eliminating the necessity to over-engineer solutions that never should have needed to exist to begin with.

Beamboom Jun 23, 2019
I'll not be surprised if Canonical backs out of this decision again, seeing the reception.

But either way, no one's forcing you to upgrade to 19.10. The practical difference between the versions are only smaller and smaller for each year.
I used to always upgrade back in the days for great benefits, but now I don't even care if I use 18.04 (@work) or 18.10 (@home), I've not even bothered upgrading to 19.04.

So there's really no reason for rushed decisions no matter what.
1xok Jun 23, 2019
Quoting: BeamboomI'll not be surprised if Canonical backs out of this decision again, seeing the reception.

But either way, no one's forcing you to upgrade to 19.10. The practical difference between the versions are only smaller and smaller for each year.
I used to always upgrade back in the days for great benefits, but now I don't even care if I use 18.04 (@work) or 18.10 (@home), I've not even bothered upgrading to 19.04.

So there's really no reason for rushed decisions no matter what.

The support of your 18.10 ends with the release of 19.10. The support of the 19.04 a few weeks later. I don't know if that puts you under pressure but it would annoy me. Precisely because nothing changes in Ubuntu.
Pangaea Jun 23, 2019
Quoting: BeamboomI'll not be surprised if Canonical backs out of this decision again, seeing the reception.

But either way, no one's forcing you to upgrade to 19.10. The practical difference between the versions are only smaller and smaller for each year.
I used to always upgrade back in the days for great benefits, but now I don't even care if I use 18.04 (@work) or 18.10 (@home), I've not even bothered upgrading to 19.04.

So there's really no reason for rushed decisions no matter what.
Yep, that will be my "solution" if Mint 20+ will get perma-crocked due to this. I waited a long time to upgrade to 19.1, and would be fine sticking with that for a long while.

Mint Debian may be a solution too. Presumably the Mint team will put more effort into that side if Ubuntu-based versions get a shot to the face like this.


Last edited by Pangaea on 23 June 2019 at 11:57 am UTC
Liam Dawe Jun 23, 2019
Quoting: TheSyldat
Quoting: liamdaweTo journalists from other websites reading: This does not mean the end of Linux support, Ubuntu is just one distribution.

Isn't it saaad that you FEEL you HAVE to precise that at the bottom of your article ?
Like for real this is the epidemy of "Hey you'll want to pull some shenanigans you can't use my ass for this shit fuck off find another pigeon for this"
Yes it is sad but some websites would love to use this sort of news to make sensationalist articles.
Mohandevir Jun 23, 2019
Totally on top of my head, but what about Clear Linux? I read that they have the Steam integration project on their side with the Solus(?) developer that created it...
TemplateR Jun 23, 2019
I personally think, that Valve should create a Linux-Distribution, which is NOT based on Debian or Arch. It would be much better to have more controls, hat should remain and what not.

BUT Valve should also recreate a new desktop environment, which aims more for PC instead of Console.
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