Support us on Patreon to keep GamingOnLinux alive. This ensures all of our main content remains free for everyone. Just good, fresh content! Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal. You can also buy games using our partner links for GOG and Humble Store.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

It seems Canonical have done a bit of a U-turn on dropping 32bit support for Ubuntu, as many expected they would do. Their official statement is now out for those interested.

The most important part to be aware of is their new plan:

Thanks to the huge amount of feedback this weekend from gamers, Ubuntu Studio, and the WINE community, we will change our plan and build selected 32-bit i386 packages for Ubuntu 19.10 and 20.04 LTS.

We will put in place a community process to determine which 32-bit packages are needed to support legacy software, and can add to that list post-release if we miss something that is needed.

That's not the end of it though of course, eventually 32bit will be dropped which is inevitable really. Just not fully this time. Touching on this, they said in the post about using "container technology" to address "the ultimate end of life of 32-bit libraries" so hopefully by that time everything they need will be in place to make it super easy for users.

I'm glad Canonical have seen some sense on this, they clearly didn't communicate it well enough to begin with but they at least understand when they've made a big mistake like this and owning up to failures is part of what builds trust, so I'm happier now. Next time this happens, I just hope they give a very clear roadmap giving everyone proper time to prepare, which they didn't this time.

Their full statement is here. It will be interesting to see how Valve react, after announcing an end of Ubuntu support for Steam for Ubuntu 19.10 onwards.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Distro News, Misc
23 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
106 comments
Page: «11/11
  Go to:

Klaus Jun 26, 2019
Regarding communication issues: It seems from some comments like there WAS miscommunication about these plans over the last years, with important parties like Wine and Valve not commenting adequately on the ideas. But if they had realized the importance of 32bit libraries, they probably wouldn't have waited for Valve/Wine to provide feedback on mailing lists, but would likely have directly requested feedback.

To be that sounds like a case of "mutually unclear communication". Valve or Wine-devs could have commented then, but it is easy to miss semi-internal communication or its sigificance, when no official inquiries are made. If important parties don't comment, you can't just assume they have read and understood your plans, yet if you never assume implicit agreement, you'd never get anything done.
Klaus Jun 26, 2019
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: NanobangIoT: More ways to be hacked, more ways to be spied on. Socio-techno dross. Also pretty unrelated to the article at hand---not as unrelated as, say EMF sickness, but pretty fuckin' unrelated all the same. :D
It is predicted that 5G (= EMF) will benefit IoT innovation. So the IoT revolution in which Ubuntu is an important player will make living organisms (and people) sicker by increasing the EMF radiation.

This seems to me to contradict the Ubuntu philosophy:

"You cannot only be human and when you have this characteristic - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves too often, because only individuals, separated from each other, while you are connected and what you do affect the entire world. When you do it right, it spreads; it's for all humanity. "

The link between Ubuntu Linux and EMF disease is therefore 5G technology that plays a central role in both cases.

Whatever you're smoking, I suggest you stop.

I work with radio communications, and have done so across multiple frequency bands. Standing on a slab of granite is more dangerous. Various foods that you eat (and whatever it is that you smoke) are more dangerous not only to yourself, but those around you.

Though I agree with the factual part of the statement, I don't think that insults will help the discussion. I mean, the discussion shouldn't be necessary anymore at this point, but the same people that spread misinformation are also very good at making people feel right about it, and insults only help them.
qptain Nemo Jun 26, 2019
Surely if humans were this sensitive to EMF, every time there is a sun flare people would drop dead in droves.
Nanobang Jun 26, 2019
View PC info
  • Supporter
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: NanobangIoT: More ways to be hacked, more ways to be spied on. Socio-techno dross. Also pretty unrelated to the article at hand---not as unrelated as, say EMF sickness, but pretty fuckin' unrelated all the same. :D
It is predicted that 5G (= EMF) will benefit IoT innovation. So the IoT revolution in which Ubuntu is an important player will make living organisms (and people) sicker by increasing the EMF radiation.

This seems to me to contradict the Ubuntu philosophy:

"You cannot only be human and when you have this characteristic - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves too often, because only individuals, separated from each other, while you are connected and what you do affect the entire world. When you do it right, it spreads; it's for all humanity. "

The link between Ubuntu Linux and EMF disease is therefore 5G technology that plays a central role in both cases.



I admire the passion you and others have about this topic. I certainly wasn't arguing against you, merely saying---albeit in a glib, somewhat snarky way (sorry)---that the topic of Ubuntu/IoT/EMF---however important it may or may be---really has no place in a discussion of an article about Ubuntu's 32 bit support.

Please, let me explain. 5g may play a central role in Ubuntu Linux and EMF disease, as you say, and I'm not saying it doesn't nor that it is or isn't an important issue. I'm saying that it's an issue that's considered separate from what this article is about.

This article is about Ubuntu's most recent position on 32 bit support and NOT anything else about Ubuntu. We'd say that the topic of the article (the article is about) is this particular, specific aspect of Ubuntu (32 bit support) and not Ubuntu in general nor any other aspect of Ubuntu.

Talking about Ubuntu's involvement with IoT (and subsequently EMF) is to discuss Ubuntu---yes---but because it's not about 32 bit support, it's not about the same topic, You see what I'm saying? IoT/EMF isn't what the article is about. We'd say IoT is a different, particular, and specific aspect of Ubuntu.---and so we'd say it's a different topic.

I'm trying to explain this to you on the off chance you are not a troll but simply don't understand why I'm saying IoT/EMF are off topic. I hope I helped.
F.Ultra Jun 26, 2019
View PC info
  • Supporter
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: GuestWhatever you're smoking, I suggest you stop.

I work with radio communications, and have done so across multiple frequency bands. Standing on a slab of granite is more dangerous. Various foods that you eat (and whatever it is that you smoke) are more dangerous not only to yourself, but those around you.
This is my last post on the subject because I do not intend to derail the discussion about 32bit support. I just wanted to indicate the health implications of the IoT sector where Ubuntu Linux is now a central player. The type of people who continue to deny the many clear evidence will always be there. Just as the Trump administration buries studies that prove the effects of climate change.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the problems with EMF radiation is the fact that it breaks the synchronization of living organisms with the schumann frequency. And this is an undeniable fact that has serious consequences.

In 1960 a renowned researcher from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, Rutger Wever extended the studies on Schumann frequency and conducted an experiment with university students that volunteered to have their health state evaluated. The students had to spend four weeks in an underground bunker built for this experiment, totally isolated from the Schumann resonance. What happened during those weeks was impressive. All the students began to feel sick, suffer severe headaches, had strange emotions and felt exhausted. When the researcher Rutger Wever introduced in the bunker (without warning the students) the Schumann frequency generator, each participant experienced relief of their condition and quickly recovered.

But desynchronisation with the Schumann frequency isn't the only severe problem with EMF. The exposure to electromagnetic pollution leads to gradual and accentuated health deterioration by weakening the immune system. Consequently, some of the health problems that occur are:

Migraine
Blurred vision
Skin diseases
Depression
Hormonal disorders
Emotional disturbances
Poor memory
Cancer
Leukemia

No it's not, every single thing that you claim to be facts are just religious beliefs in the New Age community. As usual when it comes to things like this, for your "facts" to stand true then the rest of the entire world have to be part of a vast conspiracy to hide the "importance of the Schumann frequency".

The Wever experiment is so bad it's laughable, isolate people in a hermetically sealed small bunker for 4 weeks and then attribute all the symptoms to a magic property when all the symptoms can be adhere to people just being isolated for 4 weeks in a small area...

Or that they experienced that in a simple bunker in the woods of Germany while we the normal people can have people stuffed in submarines for months on end without any problem, or people up in ISS for months on end without problems. Not even the Appollo missions to the Moon suffered any problems like this when they where completely detached from your precious frequency for a long time...

Not to mention that your precious Schumann frequency are actually several different frequencies (since it's a resonance frequency) and that they all change depending on solar activity.


Last edited by F.Ultra on 26 June 2019 at 2:28 pm UTC
RossBC Jun 26, 2019
Hopefully this just motivates steam to work more on their own OS. Haven't ever really used Ubuntu so wont notice anything if it loses support. Dunno what the big issue is though, it wont really be frozen till 2023 which is when Ubuntu 18.04 is no longer supported.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.