Canonical 正考虑移除 Ubuntu 的 32 位支持
Ubuntu
![](/data/attachment/album/201610/14/211034ayyd1dypppm22mom.jpg)


之前，[Dimitri John Ledkov](https://plus.google.com/+DimitriJohnLedkov) 在 [Ubuntu 邮件列表](https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-discuss/2016-June/016661.html) 发送了一则消息，称将在 Ubuntu 18.10 中取消 32 位支持。他说越来越多的软件已经有了 64 位支持，而且为古老的 32 位架构提供安全支持将变得更加困难。


Ledkov 同时表示，构建 32 位镜像并不是没有成本的，而要耗费 Canonical 不少的资源。



> 
> 构建 32 位镜像并不是“免费的”，它的代价就是占用了我们的构建服务器资源、QA 和校验时间。尽管我我们有可扩展的构建环境，但 32 位支持还需要为所有包进行构建和自动测试，而且 ISO 也需要在我们的各种架构上进行测试。同时这还会占据大量的镜像空间和带宽。
> 
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> 


Ledkov 计划着，Ubuntu 16.10、17.04、17.10 还会继续提供 32 位内核、网络安装器和云镜像，但移除桌面版和服务器版的 32 位 ISO 镜像。18.04 LTS 将会移除 32 位内核、网络安装器和云镜像，但在 64 位架构中兼容运行 32 位程序。然后在 18.10 中结束 32 位支持，并将传统的 32 位应用放在 snap、容器和虚拟机中。


但是，Ledkov 的这份计划还未被大家接受，但它表明了 32 位支持迟早要被遗弃。（LCTT 译注：我们已经知道 16.10 依旧有 32 为支持。）


### 好消息


当然，使用 32 位系统的用户也不必伤心。这个并不会影响用于拯救老式电脑的发行版。[Ubuntu MATE](http://ubuntu-mate.org/) 的创建者 [Martin Wimpress](https://twitter.com/m_wimpress) 在 Googl+ 的讨论中透露，这些改变这是影响着主线上的 Ubuntu 而已。



> 
> 18.04 将继续存在 32 位架构支持，分支版本可以继续选择构建 32 位镜像。但还是会存在安全隐患，一些大型应用，如 Firefox、Chromium、LibreOffice，已经凸显了在一些旧版的 LTS 的更新安全问题。所以，这些分支版本需要注意其 32 位支持期限。
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### 思考


从安全的角度，我可以理解他们为什么要移除 32 位支持，但是这可能会导致一部分人离开主线 Ubuntu 而投入另一个喜爱的发行版或者另一种架构的怀抱。值得庆幸的是，我们还可以选择 [轻量级 Linux 发行版](https://itsfoss.com/lightweight-linux-beginners/)。




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via: <https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-32-bit-support-drop/>


作者：[John Paul](https://itsfoss.com/author/john/) 译者：[GHLandy](https://github.com/GHLandy) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出


OK
**Update: Starting Ubuntu 17.10, you won’t get a new 32-bit ISO download for default version of Ubuntu. Existing 32-bit Ubuntu install will still be able to upgrade to newer versions and most likely they will be supported till 2023 (i.e. the end of life for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS). Various Ubuntu flavors are still providing 32-bit install though.**

Yesterday, developer [Dimitri John Ledkov](https://plus.google.com/+DimitriJohnLedkov) wrote a message on the [Ubuntu Mailing list](https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-discuss/2016-June/016661.html) calling for the end of i386 support by Ubuntu 18.10. Ledkov argues that more software is being developed with 64-bit support. He is also concerned that it will be difficult to provide security support for the aging i386 architecture.

Ledkov also argues that building i386 images is not free, but takes quite a bit of Canonical’s resources.

Building i386 images is not “for free”, it comes at the cost of


utilizing our build farm, QA and validation time. Whilst we have

scalable build-farms, i386 still requires all packages, autopackage tests, and ISOs to be revalidated across our infrastructure. As well as take up mirror space & bandwidth.

Ledkov offers a plan where the 16.10, 17.04, and 17.10 versions of Ubuntu will continue to have i386 kernels, netboot installers, and cloud images, but drop i386 ISO for desktop and server. The 18.04 LTS would then drop support for i386 kernels, netboot installers, and cloud images, but still provide the ability for i386 programs to run on 64-bit architecture. Then, 18.10 would end the i386 port and limit legacy 32-bit applications to snaps, containers, and virtual machines.

Ledkov’s plan had not been accepted yet, but it shows a definite push toward eliminating 32-bit support.

### Good News

Don’t despair yet. this will not affect the distros used to resurrect your old system. [Martin Wimpress](https://twitter.com/m_wimpress), the creator of [Ubuntu MATE](http://ubuntu-mate.org), revealed during a discussion on Googl+ that these changes will only affect mainline Ubuntu.

The i386 archive will continue to exist into 18.04 and flavours can continue to elect to build i386 isos. There is however a security concern, in that some larger applications (Firefox, Chromium, LibreOffice) are already presenting challenges in terms of applying some security patches to older LTS releases. So flavours are being asked to be mindful of the support period they can reasonably be expected to support i386 versions for.


### Thoughts

I understand why they need to make this move from a security standpoint, but it’s going to make people move away from mainline Ubuntu to either one of the flavors or a different architecture. Thankfully, we have alternative [lightweight Linux distributions](https://itsfoss.com/lightweight-linux-beginners/).

Will this move affect you? What do you think of it?