Canonical Assures Users 32-bit Apps Will Run on Ubuntu 19.10 and Future Releases

[The AchieVer]

Canonical Assures Users 32-bit Apps Will Run on Ubuntu 19.10 and Future Releases 

 

Due to recent escalations, Canonical updated their view on the removal of support for the i386 (32-bit) architecture for Ubuntu 19.10 and future releases to assure users 32-bit apps will still run on the Linux-based operating system.

Last week, Canonical announcedthat they will completely deprecate support for 32-bit (i386) hardware architectures in future Ubuntu Linux releases, starting with the upcoming Ubuntu 19.10 (Eoan Ermine) operating system, due for release later this fall on October 17th. However, the company mentioned the fact that while 32-bit support is going away, there will still be ways to run 32-bit apps on a 64-bit OS.

As Canonical didn't give more details on the matter at the time of the announcement, many users started complaining about how they will be able to run certain 32-bit apps and games on upcoming Ubuntu releases. Valve was also quick to announce that their Steam for Linux client won't be officially supported on Ubuntu 19.10 and future releases, so now Canonical has clarified the situation a bit saying only updates to 32-bit libraries are dropped.

"I’m sorry that we’ve given anyone the impression that we are “dropping support for i386 applications”. That’s simply not the case," said Steve Langasek. "What we are dropping is updates to the i386 libraries, which will be frozen at the 18.04 LTS versions. But there is every intention to ensure that there is a clear story for how i386 applications (including games) can be run on versions of Ubuntu later than 19.10."32-bit on Ubuntu: To be, or not to beTherefore, if you still have a 32-bit (i386) PC and want to run 32-bit apps, Canonical offers you several alternatives. For example, you can use the long-term supported Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) release, which will receive updates until April 2024. While it doesn't have a 32-bit ISO image, the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) release also supports 32-bit apps, and there's also the case of conternized apps like Snaps and Flatpaks.

The reality is it's mid 2019 and most of us own computers, phones, and tablets powered by 64-bit hardware and 64-bit operating systems. Apple is a pioneer in adopting the 64-bit architecture for all of its operating systems and apps, so it's time for the Linux community to do the same and for the world to forget about the 34-years-old i386 (x86) family of instruction set architectures, as numerous GNU/Linux distributions already did.

Ubuntu being one of the most popular Linux-based operating systems, it is recommended by several major hardware manufacturers and it's expected to support 32-bit computers from 20 years ago. However, as Canonical's recent surveys showed, this is not the case anymore as 32-bit users have become a minority. Canonical already dropped 32-bit ISO images for Ubuntu, and now they want to completely drop 32-bit support, so it's time to move on and embrace 64-bit.

 

 

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[steven36]

Brian Fagioli' Take on this-  Canonical foolishly backpedals on 32-bit packages in Ubuntu Linux

 

 

 

Having an open mind and admitting when you are wrong is a noble quality. Those that are stubborn and continue with bad ideas just to save face are very foolish. With all of that said, sometimes you have to stick with your decisions despite negative feedback because you know they are right. After all, detractors can often be very loud, but not necessarily large in numbers.

 

Not to mention, you can't please everyone, so being indecisive or "wishy-washy" in an effort to quash negativity can make you look weak. And Canonical looks very weak today.

 

When the company announced it was planning to essentially stop supporting 32-bit packages beginning with the upcoming Ubuntu 19.10, I was quite impressed. Look, folks, it is 2019 -- 64-bit processors have been commonplace for a long time. It's time to pull the damn 32-bit band-aid off and get on with things. Of course, there was some negativity surrounding the decision -- as is common with everything in the world today. In particular, developers of WINE were upset, since their Windows compatibility layer depends on 32-bit, apparently. True Linux users would never bother with WINE, but I digress.

 

 

Not to mention, gamers were up in arms, as some of their precious games would stop working. Valve weighed in with some scaremongering regarding Steam, while popular YouTuber Gardiner Bryant ("The Linux Gamer") posted a doom-and-gloom video. Sadly, this propaganda seemingly worked, as Canonical has backpedaled on its plans. In an apologetic-toned blog post, Canonical lays out new plans, which it hopes will appease gamers and other crazy 32-bit lovers. You can read it in full below.

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.

 

Community discussions can sometimes take unexpected turns, and this is one of those. The question of support for 32-bit x86 has been raised and seriously discussed in Ubuntu developer and community forums since 2014. That’s how we make decisions.

 

After the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS release we had extensive threads on the ubuntu-devel list and also consulted Valve in detail on the topic. None of those discussions raised the passions we’ve seen here, so we felt we had sufficient consensus for the move in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. We do think it’s reasonable to expect the community to participate and to find the right balance between enabling the next wave of capabilities and maintaining the long tail. Nevertheless, in this case it’s relatively easy for us to change plan and enable natively in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS the applications for which there is a specific need.

 

We will also work with the WINE, Ubuntu Studio and gaming communities to use container technology to address the ultimate end of life of 32-bit libraries; it should stay possible to run old applications on newer versions of Ubuntu. Snaps and LXD enable us both to have complete 32-bit environments, and bundled libraries, to solve these issues in the long term.

 

There is real risk to anybody who is running a body of software that gets little testing. The facts are that most 32-bit x86 packages are hardly used at all. That means fewer eyeballs, and more bugs. Software continues to grow in size at the high end, making it very difficult to even build new applications in 32-bit environments. You’ve heard about Spectre and Meltdown – many of the mitigations for those attacks are unavailable to 32-bit systems.

 

This led us to stop creating Ubuntu install media for i386 last year and to consider dropping the port altogether at a future date. It has always been our intention to maintain users’ ability to run 32-bit applications on 64-bit Ubuntu – our kernels specifically support that.

 

The Ubuntu developers remain committed as always to the principle of making Ubuntu the best open source operating system across desktop, server, cloud, and IoT. We look forward to the ongoing engagement of our users in continuing to make this principle a reality.

 

Congratulations gamers and users of WINE -- you forced Canonical to continue supporting some 32-bit packages for now. Yes, the Ubuntu-maker will now waste its resources on antiquated technology to please a very vocal minority. Sadly, as a result of the turnaround, Canonical's leadership will now be seen as weak -- this hurts the Linux community overall.

 

Do you think Canonical was right to backpedal?

 

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[steven36]

My take :Ubuntu don't care to  back pedal  if  no one will bail them out  they will cave in a  heartbeat ,  they spent 5 years on another useless project called Unity to bring Linux to smart phones kind of like what happen to Microsoft with Windows phones , It wasted all there money while thy could  be making a better desktop   me not being a smartphone user i hated Unity that's why i used Linux Mint back then . They caved on that and it  pissed off Unity users but it was a  good business decision and I'm  sure many  users  don't like the fact they caved on 32 bit

 

Now I'm  a Ubuntu user I don't care that they make 32 bit packages for crybaby desktop  gamers with money to burn who don't care about there security. it's not like it cost Ubuntu any money there devs just port them from Debian  , as long i don't have to use it , I don't install no 32 bit crap  on my system on Linux no,way or use any Windows software on Linux( that's my choice )... But Linux should be all about choice and not be like Windows that takes your choices away ,even if they not  the best choice you should be the master of your own destiny.

 

Anybody worried  about privacy will tell you to keep that gaming stuff  on another system were you only use for when you game don't even have it for your production system because its closed source and asking  for problems. But its funny  as hell they many old windows games and apps that are abandonware  that work in wine on Linux  that don't even work in windows 10. the older it is the better it is  was is  my experience when i tested Wine back in 2015  when i was weening myself  off Windows after awhile i seen no point in using Windows apps because i got use to using only Linux apps  !