Linux Kernel: "Drop Support For x86-32"

[NoAsylum]

tbh i think windows 7 should've been the last serious 32 bit release - it would help force people to move away from their P4s. as for linux, there hasn't really been a compelling reason to use 32 bit unless you are a p4 (or older) user. the only difference is linux is still pretty good with that older hardware, so ditching support for it would be annoying for such users. however, those users seem to be left in the dust in many ways anyway, mainly due to GPU support associated by the P4's (and older) generation.

Uhhh I have an Acer Aspire One 150 with a 32bit (only) Atom processor that is only 3 years old, so it is most definitely NOT P4's or older. 32bit CPU's are still far more relevant than 64bit CPU's.

[GreatEmerald]

Also, here's an enjoyment tip for readers: when reading that LKML post and the thread that Gusar linked to, don't forget to have this running in the background: http://endlessvideo.com/watch?v=1orMXD_Ijbs

[GreatEmerald]

Acutally some of Intel's latest CPUs are still only 32bit (the Atom z-series). They are used in some Windows 7 tablets like the HP slate series. Microsoft probably didn't think it was time to drop support for them just yet.

A user of such device says hi!

Yea, dropping 32-bit is just plain stupid. That said, what would be a good thing for Microsoft to do is drop WOW64 by not having it installed by default. Perhaps offer it as a download. That would be enough to motivate developers to do a proper 64-bit build.

[curaga]

You be right, this is exactly what one would expect Lennart to say.

[AJSB]

I see what you did there

You didn't come off as offensive enough to Lennart though - you should have at least called him a douche.

Well, what can i say except ....

Taking in account what he said about Slackware , he really deserves to be called L"D"P instead of LP

[TheCycoONE]

I bet that the secret alleged troll was indeed....the guy responsible by PulseAudio and Systend...


It's moments like this that make me desire to reinstall Windows XP 32 bit....

I see what you did there

You didn't come off as offensive enough to Lennart though - you should have at least called him a douche.

[ncopa]

Microsoft also dropped support for...

...MIPS, ALPHA and PowerPC with NT 4.0. Linux could do that too.

Fun reading. Thanks!

[nej_simon]

tbh i think windows 7 should've been the last serious 32 bit release - it would help force people to move away from their P4s. as for linux, there hasn't really been a compelling reason to use 32 bit unless you are a p4 (or older) user. the only difference is linux is still pretty good with that older hardware, so ditching support for it would be annoying for such users. however, those users seem to be left in the dust in many ways anyway, mainly due to GPU support associated by the P4's (and older) generation.

Acutally some of Intel's latest CPUs are still only 32bit (the Atom z-series). They are used in some Windows 7 tablets like the HP slate series. Microsoft probably didn't think it was time to drop support for them just yet.

[Nille]

I also have an accesspoint, a WRT54GL that works very well still. Matter of fact, I don't think any consumerrouters exist that have a 64bit CPU.

In most cases an router doesn't use an x86 CPU.

So until all these consumer devices are long gone, which can be 20 years easy, I don't see 32bit architecture go away anytime soon.

They talk about the x86 32bit ABI and not about general 32bit Support. He want do abandon x86-32 for the x32 ABI ( that need an x86 CPU Running in the AMD64 Mode )

[Gusar]

"however, those users seem to be left in the dust in many ways anyway, mainly due to GPU support associated by the P4's (and older) generation. "


indeed, you are forced to upgrade anyway and upgrading means 64 bit so what's the point of supporting stuff like pentium 4's if people can't really run the latest distros

Like I said in that other thread where you're rating with this, I have a 10 year old laptop (the processor in it is, surprise, surprise, Pentium 4), it still works fine. Because instead of ranting, I actually wrote the four simple lines of X configuration required to get it working fine. Sure I couldn't run gnome shell or unity on it, but who is forcing you to?

This doom and gloom of "being left in the dust" and "being forced to upgrade" is just plain ridiculous. It might be true for a few distros, but you're not being forced to use them, there's plenty of other choices, and by that I don't just mean LTS distros like CentOS.