Debian is already preparing to say goodbye to i386 support

32-bit systems are becoming obsolete and in recent years many Linux distributions have already accelerated the movement to eliminate support for the 32-bit architecture (i386) totally or partially and in the case of Debian, this could already be a reality.

During a recent mini-DebConf in Cambridge, theDebian developers discussed the issue of removal graduall support for 86-bit x32 architecture (i386). Debian has the widest range of hardware support among distributions, but it looks like the countdown to the end of i386 support has begun in earnest.

Paul Gevers, from the Debian release team, was the one who he announced in a message titled "Bits from the Release Team: Cambridge sprint update" on the debian-devel-announce mailing list.

About the advertisement it is mentioned in which "the kernel team, the installer (di) team, and the imaging team will end support for i386 in the near future." The company plans to make this clear and will continue to discuss the future handling of the i386 architecture in the user forum. Currently there are two proposals:

To the extent that they still do so, we anticipate that the kernel, die, and imaging teams
They will stop supporting i386 in the near future. After that, there are two
routes to run i386:

1. as a multi-arch option on an AMD64 system
2. as an i386 chroot on another architecture system

We are not planning to make i386 a partial architecture down the road, Ubuntu
has a partial i386 architecture, so everything compiles
default. Maintainers who wish to remove i386 support can do so *after* coordination with the reverse (build) dependencies of your package, just as if they eliminate support for any other architecture. We also like to point out that We do not object to changes to the baseline when these changes land (it is a port issue).

As such, it is mentioned that Debian's plans include continuing to support the x86-32 architecture for a while yet., but the cessation of the formation of official installation builds and kernel packages for 86-bit x32 systems is contemplated, but the preservation of the presence of a package repository and the ability to deploy 32-bit environments in isolated containers.

As well It is planned to continue delivering a multi-arch repository and tools to ensure that 32-bit applications can be built and run in a 86-bit x64_64 environment.

If the plan is approved, the right moment to be implemented probably It will be at the release of Debian 13 “Trixie” (scheduled for 2025) but it could also happen sooner, although this is very unlikely, given that practically the next release of Debian 13 is for next year.

If the plan is implemented, No more images of architecture will be created, including the normal support phase, which will indirectly affect other derived distributions as well. from Debian that offer support for 32 bits and among the main affected distributions are Peppermint OS, Q4OS, SparkyLinux, antiX, MX Linux, among others.

It is worth mentioning that most of the distributions that still continue to offer support for the i386 architecture are focused on low-resource computers and the elimination of support can be a hard blow for users of this architecture.

And, although we speak in terms of percentage and the number of downloads of the i386 edition is minimal, we must remember that there are still communities in which the use of computer equipment, which for most of us may already seem obsolete, these are the only things they can have given the social circumstances.

But hey, that is another topic that can cover a large number of points to take into account, but it would be an excellent option for the Debian developers to carry out an in-depth evaluation of this plan and in the event that Debian 13 “Trixie” is the point of no return, they can still be offered more than four years before support ends.

Finally if you are interested in knowing more about it, you can check the details In the following link.