4 ms·

Wouldn't it make sense to drop 32-bit on intermediate releases but keep it on LTS releases? It sounds like the perfect compromise to me, but I'm not sure what e

by meruru 7y ago

Wouldn't it make sense to drop 32-bit on intermediate releases but keep it on LTS releases? It sounds like the perfect compromise to me, but I'm not sure what exactly it takes to support 32-bit. Is it a matter of human or computing resources that's driving this?

yskchu 7y ago
It's still supported on 18.04 LTS etc, they just don't want to support it in 20.04 LTS, so this is a preparation move. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-Drops-32-bit-x86 https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-D...
- meruru 7y ago
  I mean why not support it only on 20.04, 22.04 and so on.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - desas 7y ago
    Because that code will then be untested for the releases between LTS and hence more fragile and expensive to support within it.
    - meruru 7y ago
      The code will be tested in its 64-bit form. Is 6 months not enough to check for 32-bit specific bugs? How often are there 32-bit bugs anyway?
duskwuff 7y ago
Maybe. That'd still put the distribution in the strange position of shipping old 32-bit versions of libraries alongside newer 64-bit ones. I'd be concerned that using two different versions "side by side" could cause problems.
- meruru 7y ago
  I don't understand, why ship different library versions for 32-bit and 64-bit? I'm proposing they reduce their maintenance burden by dropping 32-bit completely on non-LTS releases and keep supporting it properly on LTS releases for the use-cases that require it
  - jdboyd 7y ago
    It seems impractical to drop support then re-add it. Probably less work to keep building and testing it all along then to have to fix 2 years of 32 bit specific bugs all at once.
    - meruru 7y ago
      How much of the maintenance burden consists of 32-bit specific bugs? I would guess almost nothing, but I have no idea really.

4 ms·

Wouldn't it make sense to drop 32-bit on intermediate releases but keep it on LTS releases? It sounds like the perfect compromise to me, but I'm not sure what e

by meruru 7y ago

yskchu 7y ago
It's still supported on 18.04 LTS etc, they just don't want to support it in 20.04 LTS, so this is a preparation move. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-Drops-32-bit-x86 https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-D...
- meruru 7y ago
  I mean why not support it only on 20.04, 22.04 and so on.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - desas 7y ago
    Because that code will then be untested for the releases between LTS and hence more fragile and expensive to support within it.
    - meruru 7y ago
      The code will be tested in its 64-bit form. Is 6 months not enough to check for 32-bit specific bugs? How often are there 32-bit bugs anyway?
duskwuff 7y ago
Maybe. That'd still put the distribution in the strange position of shipping old 32-bit versions of libraries alongside newer 64-bit ones. I'd be concerned that using two different versions "side by side" could cause problems.
- meruru 7y ago
  I don't understand, why ship different library versions for 32-bit and 64-bit? I'm proposing they reduce their maintenance burden by dropping 32-bit completely on non-LTS releases and keep supporting it properly on LTS releases for the use-cases that require it
  - jdboyd 7y ago
    It seems impractical to drop support then re-add it. Probably less work to keep building and testing it all along then to have to fix 2 years of 32 bit specific bugs all at once.
    - meruru 7y ago
      How much of the maintenance burden consists of 32-bit specific bugs? I would guess almost nothing, but I have no idea really.