On Saturday, September 7, 2019 11:44:59 AM MST Victor V. Shkamerda wrote:
I totally agree with that view. Making such decisions without public
discussion is not respecting user's freedom of choice. And this list
doesn't count as a public discussion. Nobody will know about it outside a
very closed circle. If you don't know exact numbers or reasons why people
still use that architecture, then rushing to drastic measures just won't
have enough rationale and will be viewed as a lack of care.
The reasons to use 32-bit userland might be more than you think.
There are
different use scenarios besides browsing Internet or virtualization. There
could be a high cost of upgrade (think about replacing many computers at
once). There could be a unique peripheral equipment. There could be
compatibility concerns. And there could be just not enough memory.
OTOH, what could justify removing repository entirely? Why not make
it an
option which could be installed on demand? That would be better than leave
everyone out on the cold. Is the cost to build it really that high? Safety
could not be a reason in a tightly contained environment. Let users decide
for themselves.
There is no black and white distinction: multilib or i686 kernel.
There are
reasons why using x86_64 kernel with i686 userland might be a better
option. Some older office computers were manufactured with 64-bit CPU but
without support for more than 4 GB RAM. In such case using i686 userland on
a x86_64 kernel provides much more free memory than using 64-bit userland.
Such configuration is unsupported, but neither is i686. Giving users a
choice is always better than decide for them behind their backs.
And of course there is still an option to switch to another OS. Do I
need to
remind that Linux and Red Hat were not created just to replace some other
OS, but to respect freedom of choice? What happened that this is not even
mentioned in such discussions? Is this just business as usual?
Wait, what happened to x86 becoming a secondary architecture? You know, there
are vendors that still create and sell x86 systems today.