Hello,
On Mon, Sep 07, 2020 at 07:57:18PM +0100, Joe wrote:
> One practical point: it isn't possible to upgrade from a 32-bit
> installation to a 64-bit one, it's a reinstall job. I did actually have
> a go once, but quickly got bogged down with 'do A before B, and do B
> before A'.
I've done it successfully more than 10 times, but:
- It isn't officially supported
- I did it on virtual machines which by their nature had fewer
packages installed and are much simpler than the typical desktop
or "server that does everything" in a small office.
It is not for the faint of heart and on any moderately complex
install it is faster and certainly easier to just reinstall.
Basic process:
https://wiki.debian.org/CrossGrading
Do not do this if you aren't willing to possibly render your system
unbootable requiring a lengthy repair session before you get
frustrated and just reinstall anyway.
So far in this thread people have pointed out that upstream software
vendors are increasingly moving away from 32-bit x86 for various
reasons. What hasn't been mentioned yet is that one of the upstream
projects where 32-bit support is sub-optimal and getting worse is
the Linux kernel itself.
Basically there are already fewer upstream kernel developers that
care about and understand 32-bit x86, and bug and even security
fixes specific to 32-bit x86 lag behind those for amd64. KPTI fixes
to address Meltdown and Spectre took an extra 6 months to reach
32-bit x86.
https://lwn.net/Articles/743265/
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-32-Bit-KPTI-Bug-Fix
If your hardware supports it then you are best off planning to move
to it sooner rather than later. X86_32 is already in the critical
care ward.
Cheers,
Andy
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