Linux 5.6 Is The First Kernel For 32-Bit Systems Ready To Run Past Year 2038

[starshipeleven]

Distros are dropping 32bit support left and right today, who's gonna be running 32bit Linux 18 years from now?

people like rene that have an extensive collection of old hardware and some Debian users.

[Orphis]

32bit processors have little value for the general public.

Specialized sectors might still have a use for it, even in 2038.

32bit time_t is an abomination, can we please all use a 64bit time_t and stop bikeshedding on how many bits the rest of the runtime should use for their pointers?

[bregma]

Distros are dropping 32bit support left and right today, who's gonna be running 32bit Linux 18 years from now?

I work for an embedded OS, and we have trouble selling the 32-bit version even today. That said, there's sweatshops in Shenzhen that are churning out toasters and washing machines using knockoff 8-bit processors even today, so there are probably similar using 32-bit chips and it's possible their product will last for 18 years (if kept in its original packaging in a pure nitrogen atmosphere at controlled temperature and pressure). The people who own those companies need a free 32-bit OS that will still work in 2038.

It's not about your personal desktop, it's about the more common frequently encountered computers out there. Chances are you paid nothing for your free operating system so your value in this equation is also nothing. On the other hand, most of the Shenzhen Sweatshops are owned by rich people who also have interests in American branding and marketing organizations (HP, Dell, Apple, etc) and stand to lose slim margins without 32-bit kernel support, and have actually paid developers to make it happen.

[gamerk2]

Distros are dropping 32bit support left and right today, who's gonna be running 32bit Linux 18 years from now?

Embedded systems. At my workplace we still maintain a VMS/VAX workstation, a Windows 3.11 machine, and a few DEC branded workstations. We still support systems that are run on Intel 286's and Motorola 68k's. Not everything needs that much firepower.

[Mangix]

FreeDOS keeps industry running. Given that I’m not sure why anybody would back port this fix. By the time 2038 rolls around kernel 13.13.13 will be the thing.

Speaking of FreeDOS, is this an issue there as well?

[kpedersen]

Distros are dropping 32bit support left and right today, who's gonna be running 32bit Linux 18 years from now?

Isn't Raspberry Pi's Raspbian kernel 32-bit?

I am pretty sure out of *all* computers in existence today, the Raspberry Pi will be most likely to still have a few boards in operation.

The OpenBSD guys wrote a time_t song when they future-proofed their kernel back in 5.5: https://www.openbsd.org/lyrics.html#55
Play it on your car speakers at full volume on the way to work.

[andrewjoy]

Distros are dropping 32bit support left and right today, who's gonna be running 32bit Linux 18 years from now?

Whist i think that 32 bit should have been canned from mainline long ago, there will be people running it way past 2038 so this work is vital. Good job guys.

We should nip 64bit t_time in the bud tho. I mean is 292,277,026,596 that long away now? I am pretty sure there will be a few old P3 deskpros still running then , them things be tanks !

[wizard69]

You know, 18 years ago people said the same thing about DOS and yet last month FreeDOS dropped another release candidate for the next version.

FreeDOS keeps industry running. Given that I’m not sure why anybody would back port this fix. By the time 2038 rolls around kernel 13.13.13 will be the thing.

[oskar-n]

Distros are dropping 32bit support left and right today, who's gonna be running 32bit Linux 18 years from now?

To quote Ballmer:
Embedded, embedded, embedded!

[stormcrow]

Distros are dropping 32bit support left and right today, who's gonna be running 32bit Linux 18 years from now?

Please. Right tool for the job. There's still 8 bit microcontrollers dutifully doing their jobs, and yes there are new projects using 32 bit (or smaller) CPUs.

This has little to do with what the flashy mainstream distributions are doing with their software base. Fedora could keel over when the Unix epoch rolls over in 2038, but if it does, it won't be the kernel's fault. What matters is making sure all CPUs supported by the kernel and their userspace hooks, libraries, and interfaces properly support the Unix epoch format in the kernel and that there's no gotchas whether it's on an ARM, Power, MIPS, etc CPU. This is irrelevant to what CPUs and user space software the distributions chose to package. This is internal plumbing to be exposed to user space to be sure everything is consistent for the 2038+ epoch when we reach that point such that someone using a 32 bit CPU (new or old) in 2038 doesn't blow up cuz of a 20 year old overlooked bug.