Ubuntu 19.10 To Drop 32-bit x86 Packages

[dungeon]

Well one thing is for sure... people who want 32-bit app support like gamers will surely be DROPPING support for Ubuntu.

Of course, same like Aspyr dropping support for macOS Catalina

https://www.techradar.com/news/heads-up-mac-gamers-big-time-pc-game-port-studio-to-drop-support-for-32-bit

This Ubuntu story is quite similar plan like macOS is doing, just a bit later on

[skeevy420]

Also, also, I'm gonna seriously ROFL when/if Steam decides to switch to Suse due to this.

[birdie]

Also, also, I'm gonna seriously ROFL when/if Steam decides to switch to Suse due to this.

More likely Mint or even CentOS 7/8. Suse is a very niche distro.

[skeevy420]

I'm glad "someone" is doing this, its a good step towards the future.
That said, I likely won't be using it as it doesn't suit my work case.

Progress for the sake of progress with no real benefit is just dumb though.

Ubuntu -- We've dropped 32bit support.

Average -- Is it faster?

Ubuntu -- It's leaner and easier for us to maintain.

Average -- IS IT FASTER OR BETTER IN ANY WAY?

Ubuntu -- No, not really.

Average -- Can I play Stellaris?

Ubuntu -- No, not really.

Average -- What about my printer driver? Is that covered?

Ubuntu -- No, not really.

Average -- I'm gonna go check out Suse, Fedora, or Manjaro since they'll allow me to play Stellaris while waiting on my dissertation on the battle mechanics of Final Fantasy Tactics to print.

Ubuntu -- Why are we now 87 and falling on Distrowatch?

[Xaero_Vincent]

Of course, same like Aspyr dropping support for macOS Catalina

https://www.techradar.com/news/heads...ort-for-32-bit

This Ubuntu story is quite similar plan like macOS is doing, just a bit later on

Yeah, it's pretty much making macOS Catalina a shit option for gamers, and I can't wait to see the fallout when OpenGL and OpenCL support is finally pulled in a release or 2 after that? Then even most 64-bit games on Mac won't work lol. They will either have to ported to leverage Metal or MoltenVK.

Valve might respond to this by making the Linux steam client purely 64-bit but I doubt they'll do anything in regards to supporting the 32-bit games as they also require 32-bit driver libraries that would likely cause all sorts of segmentation fault havoc trying to bundle that in the steam runtime. I personally think the community will come in and save the day with a fork of multi-lib if Canonical doesn't reconsider, or they'll just keep losing share to Arch-based distros that tend to be 2nd place in desktop use popularity.

[skeevy420]

More likely Mint or even CentOS 7/8. Suse is a very niche distro.

Mint is a fork of Ubuntu which is not 32bit anymore...you didn't think that one through. Shit, as is Mint considered closing up shop recently...they're not going to pick up the 32bit torch when Ubuntu drops it.

Both Cent and Suse both have official AMDGPU Pro drivers making them prime Steam candidates. RHEL is the only other choice and don't nobody wanting that for their gaming OS.

[gQuigs]

Where are you getting your shat from? [B]99% of games are 32bit only.

Obviously, older games will still need some compatibility layer - but Steam already provides that. Feel free to name 3 or 4 modern games that are 32-bit only.. I'll do the same...

For 64-bit any game with Unreal Engine - https://wiki.unrealengine.com/Linux_Support. as well:
* Stellaris - just went 64-bit only (https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articl...-out-now.14274)
* Counter Strike: GO (https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articl...-on-linux.7286 )
* Civilization VI

[skeevy420]

Wait...

Shouldn't it be realtively straightforward to import 32-bit libraries packages from Debian? Perhaps some Ubuntu derivatives will do this (like Mint). I mean, Mint already has a Debian-based edition.

Dude, I know damn well that you know damn well who used to suggest importing Ubuntu packages into Debian. That method in reverse is not an acceptable method.

[betam4x]

I wouldn't count on it. They quoted lack of resources reason. Complaints aren't going to help that. Rather, those who need it will just migrate to other distros.



Exactly. Steam doesn't matter. Games which are 32-bit do.

Ubuntu became one of the most popular distros in the world. However, a company needs money to stay afloat, and they really don't have a way to make money. They've tried to make money a few different ways, but they are clearly struggling due to the lack of a revenue stream. As a result, recent releases have seen more loss of features than anything (Unity, Mir, etc.) Hopefully they find a way to remain relevant soon. Other distros (like Mint) rely on them downstream.

As an earlier poster stated, maybe we should all just move back to Debian and focus efforts there.

[oiaohm]

Where are you getting your shat from? 99% of games are 32bit only.

That 99% does not line up for Linux native games.

Evendie; if modern games are mostly 64bit, and that's debatable, we have literally tens of thousands of games which will never be ported to 64bit. We have thousands of 32bit software titles as well and they provide life critical support.

There are thousands of 32bit windows titles wine + hangover does not need 32 bit host platform support to run them. Those are a short term problem.

NVIDIA (that's how they are spelled) has not ended support for 32bit - they ended support for 32bit kernel drivers. They are still supplying 32bit libraries and will keep on doing that for the foreseeable future.

This is less required than you would think. emugl from android and virtgl work both don't care if you only have 64 bit opengl hardware support. Virtgl inside a VM to it rendering engine outside allows 32 bit inside VM and 64 bit in the host works. emugl by pipe allowed 32 bit in container and 64 bit as host. So for opengl programs we don't in fact need host provided 32bit opengl support once we have these solutions completed off.

With these advancements do we really need multilib any more. Or should we simple put old 32 bit Linux application in container and use virtgl/emugl to host particularly thinking they are most likely not getting security patched any more we might want to restrict file system access and other things. Wine with hangover means that 32 bit windows applications will not be needing 32 bit graphics driver libraries from Nvidia either.