> There are still some people who need to run 32-bit applications that cannot be updated; the solution he has been pushing people toward is to run a 32-bit user space on a 64-bit kernel. This is a good solution for memory-constrained systems; switching to 32-bit halves the memory usage of the system. Since, on most systems, almost all memory is used by user space, running a 64-bit kernel has a relatively small cost. Please, he asked, do not run 32-bit kernels on 64-bit processors.
Ohhh yes!
So, a couple of weeks ago I came across a discussion where some distro (I don't remember which one) contemplated removing 32-bit user space support, suggesting to users to simply run a VM running a 32 bit Linux instead. It was a stupid suggestion then, and this statement is a nice authorative answer from the kernel side, where such suggestions can be shoved to.
Probably SuSE. We use SLES15 at work and their bizarre decisions in SLES 16 to remove X servers (except for XWayland), remove 32-bit libraries, and complete removal of their AutoYaST unattended install tool in favor for a tool that is maybe 25% compatible with existing AutoYaST files still baffles me. We spent months moving to SLES15 from a RHEL derivative a few years ago and now we basically have to do it again for SLES16 with as big as the changes are. We have some rather strong integrations with the Xorg servers, and Wayland won't cut it for us currently, so we're stuck unless we want to rearchitect 20 years of display logic to some paper spec that isn't evenly implemented and when it is, it's buggy as shit.
I've been pushing hard for us to move off SLES as a result, and I do not recommend it to anyone who wants a stable distribution that doesn't fuck over its users for stupid reasons.
Ohhh yes!
So, a couple of weeks ago I came across a discussion where some distro (I don't remember which one) contemplated removing 32-bit user space support, suggesting to users to simply run a VM running a 32 bit Linux instead. It was a stupid suggestion then, and this statement is a nice authorative answer from the kernel side, where such suggestions can be shoved to.