3 ms·

>Linux is fantastic on older hardware I've been having a hard time getting Linux to work on older hardware ever since the majority of distros dropped 32-bit bu

>Linux is fantastic on older hardware I've been having a hard time getting Linux to work on older hardware ever since the majority of distros dropped 32-bit builds. Then again, "older" for me means stuff from the Pentium through the Pentium 4 era. Seeing as "older" today means Sandy Bridge and the like, the moral of this little tale is I am a fucking old man angry at the kids on my lawn.

ant6n 3y ago
But there must be some with 32bit support?
- kwhitefoot 3y ago
  Debian still supports 32 bit for the latest version and there are several small distros that are explicitly aimed at 32 bit.
  - ant6n 3y ago
    Seems like Debian is all one would ever need.
- tmtvl 3y ago
  OpenSUSE still builds i686 ISOs. Of course if you want to go crazy there's always TinyCore.
- pwg 3y ago
  Slackware (http://www.slackware.com/ http://www.slackware.com/) also still provides a 32-bit version as well.
colechristensen 3y ago
I think you have graduated to retro computing enthusiast.
- beebeepka 3y ago
  No kidding. Not to mention that Pentium 4 was just about to worst line of intel CPUs, culminating with junk like pentium d 820 and its siblings. People ought to be paid to use this crap
  - brailsafe 3y ago
    People were definitely paid to use this crap at that time
jakogut 3y ago
The x86-64 architecture was introduced in 1999, with the first processor introduced in 2003. Comparatively, the 8088, introduced in 1979, was barely older at the time than the 64-bit Opteron is now. It might be time to let i386 go.
- mike_hock 3y ago
  Not as long as i386 devices still exist that are superior in at least one way to any amd64 or arm alternative. And what "superior" means depends on the use case. Some Mega Ryzen Uber Speed CPU with a Googol FLOPS that can't connect to anything is worthless to me.
  - gymbeaux 3y ago
    What’s an example of something you’d prefer a 32-bit CPU for over a 64-bit CPU?
    - mike_hock 3y ago
      The CPU? Nothing. The device isn't just the CPU.
      - gymbeaux 3y ago
        That doesn’t answer my question
mike_hock 3y ago
I won't take any distro seriously that doesn't support at least i686, amd64, arm and arm64. Compiling for four architectures can't be too much to ask. Shit software that can't be written portably enough to run on more than amd64 must be kicked off the repo. We need this pressure on developers if we're to maintain a modicum of code quality.
- dns_snek 3y ago
  > Shit software that can't be written portably enough to run on more than amd64 must be kicked off the repo. Convince me, why should I spend my time supporting i686? Just to accommodate a handful of people still running 32bit hardware? Calling other people's work "shit" just because they don't spend their free time supporting the wishes (not needs!) of 0.1% of their users is rude and extremely entitled.
  - owenmarshall 3y ago
    FWIW, I agree with you. But I think there is an argument to be made: the OpenBSD team has indicated that cross-architecture ports help them find bugs that otherwise might not be noticed if they were just targeting the usual suspects.
  - mike_hock 3y ago
    Why should you spend your time writing it in the first place?
- Klonoar 3y ago
  What a needlessly dismissive and frankly rude take.

ant6n 3y ago

But there must be some with 32bit support?

kwhitefoot 3y ago
Debian still supports 32 bit for the latest version and there are several small distros that are explicitly aimed at 32 bit.
- ant6n 3y ago
  Seems like Debian is all one would ever need.
tmtvl 3y ago
OpenSUSE still builds i686 ISOs. Of course if you want to go crazy there's always TinyCore.
pwg 3y ago
Slackware (http://www.slackware.com/ http://www.slackware.com/) also still provides a 32-bit version as well.

colechristensen 3y ago

I think you have graduated to retro computing enthusiast.

beebeepka 3y ago
No kidding. Not to mention that Pentium 4 was just about to worst line of intel CPUs, culminating with junk like pentium d 820 and its siblings. People ought to be paid to use this crap
- brailsafe 3y ago
  People were definitely paid to use this crap at that time

jakogut 3y ago

The x86-64 architecture was introduced in 1999, with the first processor introduced in 2003. Comparatively, the 8088, introduced in 1979, was barely older at the time than the 64-bit Opteron is now. It might be time to let i386 go.

mike_hock 3y ago
Not as long as i386 devices still exist that are superior in at least one way to any amd64 or arm alternative. And what "superior" means depends on the use case. Some Mega Ryzen Uber Speed CPU with a Googol FLOPS that can't connect to anything is worthless to me.
- gymbeaux 3y ago
  What’s an example of something you’d prefer a 32-bit CPU for over a 64-bit CPU?
  - mike_hock 3y ago
    The CPU? Nothing. The device isn't just the CPU.
    - gymbeaux 3y ago
      That doesn’t answer my question

mike_hock 3y ago

I won't take any distro seriously that doesn't support at least i686, amd64, arm and arm64. Compiling for four architectures can't be too much to ask. Shit software that can't be written portably enough to run on more than amd64 must be kicked off the repo. We need this pressure on developers if we're to maintain a modicum of code quality.

dns_snek 3y ago
> Shit software that can't be written portably enough to run on more than amd64 must be kicked off the repo. Convince me, why should I spend my time supporting i686? Just to accommodate a handful of people still running 32bit hardware? Calling other people's work "shit" just because they don't spend their free time supporting the wishes (not needs!) of 0.1% of their users is rude and extremely entitled.
- owenmarshall 3y ago
  FWIW, I agree with you. But I think there is an argument to be made: the OpenBSD team has indicated that cross-architecture ports help them find bugs that otherwise might not be noticed if they were just targeting the usual suspects.
- mike_hock 3y ago
  Why should you spend your time writing it in the first place?
Klonoar 3y ago
What a needlessly dismissive and frankly rude take.