[arch-ports] Phasing out i686 support
Hi everybody I just read (maybe a bit late, it is from january...) the news about phasing out i686 support (https://www.archlinux.org/news/phasing-out-i686-support/). Since this news item was not posted on the 1st of april I guess this is not a joke - just to make sure: Is this really true, there won't be a 32-bit Arch Linux from November 2017? I ask this because we recently (okay, about 2-3 years ago) switched to Arch Linux for our devices, those devices run on 32-bit only and they will exist for at least the next seven years. We are in the railway industry, things don't change monthly. This fact puts us in trouble. I see that manufacturers don't produce much 32-bit hardware any more (there still is though!) but there is still a lot of 32-bit hardware around that still runs and is meant to run for quite some time. I think it's bad to discontinue 32-bit systems when still corresponding hardware is in use, this would support the same waste that other manufacturers push (e.g. XYZ that doesn't support its mobile phone one year after releasing it). Am I the only one who thinks that way? Thanks for your clarification, arguments, thoughts, ideas! Best Regards Dave
Hi Dave,
Since this news item was not posted on the 1st of april I guess this is not a joke - just to make sure: Is this really true, there won't be a 32-bit Arch Linux from November 2017? I ask this because we recently (okay, about 2-3 years ago) switched to Arch Linux for our devices, those devices run on 32-bit only and they will exist for at least the next seven years. We are in the railway industry, things don't change monthly.
It's true, but: There are community efforts to keep archlinux running on 32 bit.
This fact puts us in trouble. I see that manufacturers don't produce much 32-bit hardware any more (there still is though!) but there is still a lot of 32-bit hardware around that still runs and is meant to run for quite some time.
I think it's bad to discontinue 32-bit systems when still corresponding hardware is in use, this would support the same waste that other manufacturers push (e.g. XYZ that doesn't support its mobile phone one year after releasing it).
Am I the only one who thinks that way?
nope, you're not the only one. Check out archlinux32.org and/or visit the irc channel (#archlinux-ports on freenode.net) for further infos. However, this is still a work in progress - but I'm confident, we get things running until november. If all goes smooth, the transition for you should be as easy as changing your mirrorlist and updating your pacman-keyring.
Thanks for your clarification, arguments, thoughts, ideas!
Just some other thoughts: Arch is not the most stable linux I've seen (frankly, it's quite unstable, because it's so bleeding-edge) - why do you prefer it on "old" hardware in production - you certainly don't need all the new fancy (and partly buggy) software, do you?
Best Regards Dave
Cheers, Erich
Hi Dave/Elrich, Allow me to jump in here as well, as some of the resources may be difficult to find.
Since this news item was not posted on the 1st of april I guess this is not a joke - just to make sure: Is this really true, there won't be a 32-bit Arch Linux from November 2017? I ask this because we recently (okay, about 2-3 years ago) switched to Arch Linux for our devices, those devices run on 32-bit only and they will exist for at least the next seven years. We are in the railway industry, things don't change monthly.
It's less severe than you might think. The process of moving arch off of 32bit is only for the officially managed/mainline reposatory, and will eventually be managed much in a similar way other community based arch projects/ports are, much like the archlinux-arm project. The community is currently in the process of building up a separate 32bit reposatory, and preliminary packages are available. See https://github.com/archlinux32/packages/tree/master/core for details, and an initial mirrorlist. I would recommend holding off on migrating here until further testing can be performed, but is available for preliminary testing. If you would like to help us test and report bugs you find, that would be much appreciated, and would aid the transition process greatly.
Am I the only one who thinks that way?
nope, you're not the only one.
Ditto here. I support old 32bit kiosk machines that we don't forsee upgrading for the time being. I also personally run one of the 32bit mirrors out of chicago: http://32.arlm.tyzoid.com/
Thanks for your clarification, arguments, thoughts, ideas!
No problem. Just know that this is an organization change, and that as Elrich said:
If all goes smooth, the transition for you should be as easy as changing your mirrorlist and updating your pacman-keyring.
Cheers, Tyler
Hi Erich and Tyzoid Thanks for your replies! I am glad things aren't so final. One reason for our decision to use Arch Linux is its rolling release model. Another one is pkgbuild that makes package creation easy and AUR that provides a lot of additional packages. Another reason is the possibility to create a slim system without unnecessary overhead... and so on ;-) Concerning stability I often encountered that newer software runs more stable than older "more stable" versions, often in newer versions bugs are eliminated - of course if only new features are provided this is not the case, I just think its more complicated as "newer software equals more buggy behaviour". And after all we also develop software and its great to have recent versions available - imagine using Debian, if the team wants to switch to Qt5.9 they probably have to wait for another 5 years until they can have it, by that time it is already deprecated (this is exaggerated, I know ;-) ). Thank you! Cheers Dave Am Donnerstag, den 08.06.2017, 11:36 +0200 schrieb Erich Eckner:
Hi Dave,
Since this news item was not posted on the 1st of april I guess this is not a joke - just to make sure: Is this really true, there won't be a 32-bit Arch Linux from November 2017? I ask this because we recently (okay, about 2-3 years ago) switched to Arch Linux for our devices, those devices run on 32-bit only and they will exist for at least the next seven years. We are in the railway industry, things don't change monthly.
It's true, but: There are community efforts to keep archlinux running on 32 bit.
This fact puts us in trouble. I see that manufacturers don't produce much 32-bit hardware any more (there still is though!) but there is still a lot of 32-bit hardware around that still runs and is meant to run for quite some time.
I think it's bad to discontinue 32-bit systems when still corresponding hardware is in use, this would support the same waste that other manufacturers push (e.g. XYZ that doesn't support its mobile phone one year after releasing it).
Am I the only one who thinks that way?
nope, you're not the only one.
Check out archlinux32.org and/or visit the irc channel (#archlinux- ports on freenode.net) for further infos. However, this is still a work in progress - but I'm confident, we get things running until november.
If all goes smooth, the transition for you should be as easy as changing your mirrorlist and updating your pacman-keyring.
Thanks for your clarification, arguments, thoughts, ideas!
Just some other thoughts: Arch is not the most stable linux I've seen (frankly, it's quite unstable, because it's so bleeding-edge) - why do you prefer it on "old" hardware in production - you certainly don't need all the new fancy (and partly buggy) software, do you?
Best Regards Dave
Cheers, Erich
participants (3)
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David Daniel
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Erich Eckner
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Tyzoid D