Fedora 44 Looks to Drop I686 Support: No More Multi-Lib / x86 32-Bit Packages(www.phoronix.com)
20 pointsby rcarmo2 days ago4 comments
  • egberts12 days ago
    Secret to smoothest usage of /usr[/local]/lib64 is to leverage Redhat's

        config.site
    Intensive details:

    config.site is the usual way this works on most distros. They do provide suggestions for a workaround: Basically backport whatever Fedora's config.site does.

    FWIW, the distro I'm currently using where this works does this by exporting CONFIG_SITE in /etc/profile.d/site.sh:

        CONFIG_SITE="/usr/share/site/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu"
    export CONFIG_SITE
    Source link:

    https://github.com/egberts/easy-admin/issues/1

  • rurban2 days ago
    I left macOS for Fedora when they removed the 32bit libs. Had to run lots of simulations on 32bit for embedded arm32, which I didn't wanted to run under qemu. (Tried debian first, but this was a clusterfuck. worse than windows)

    Well, let's see what I can do now. linux is not as locked down as macOS, and providing my own multilib gcc and libs should be trivial.

    • dlachausse2 days ago
      If you need 32 bit support, your best bets are going to be Windows or NetBSD. Most other OSes are phasing it out.

      Windows can't kill 32 bit support because even today a significant amount of software for the platform still depends on it, and that won't change any time soon.

      NetBSD won't kill it, because support for tons of architectures and platforms is pretty much the reason why it exists. It supports platforms far more exotic and obsolete than 32 bit x86.

  • 2OEH8eoCRo02 days ago
    Steam remains a roadblock since it is still 32 bit
    • dlachausse2 days ago
      > The main exception comes down to Steam and some games still being x86 32-bit although there is the option of using Flatpak packages or similar containerized solutions for those needing i686 software/apps.

      This seems like a reasonable work around.

      • 2OEH8eoCRo02 days ago
        Right but valve doesn't distribute the flatpak, it's 3rd party unofficial.
    • m-p-32 days ago
      And a lot of games will remain stuck in the 32-bit realm.

      Losing the ability to run these easily is a significant loss for game preservation.

  • mystified50162 days ago
    I have somehow never seen the term I686 before

    For anyone else, this refers to 32 bit Pentium 2/3/Pro architecture

    • Tsiklon2 days ago
      In the Linux space it’s used more broadly as shorthand for software built for 32bit only x86 platforms inclusive of P4, and early “Core” branded processors