2013/8/19 Bryan Quigley <gquig...@gmail.com>: > I was wondering if anyone wanted to take another look at recommending 64 bit > instead of 32 bit for 13.10?
Hi Bryan. There is certainly interest, to reduce the confusion for users of new computers. Locally it has been clearer since ubuntu-fi defaults to 64-bit download of 12.04 LTS always. I would have liked to have 64-bit by default for 12.04 LTS already globally, but I agree the conservative approach at the time was still more valid. There was also unity-2d available at the time. Now would be a good time to consider the switch so that there'd be one non-LTS release before 14.04 LTS. At the time of 14.04 LTS release, all desktop computers sold during the last 7 years have been 64-bit compliant. During the 2007 some older generation models may still have been sold as new, so 6-6.5 years might be more accurate for "all". First gen Atoms are found in newer netbooks like you noted in your conclusion, but the 2nd gen and newer Atoms have been out for over 4 years next Spring. It certainly requires the exception note, though. So your (slightly modified) “If you have a 6+ year old PC, a 4+ year old netbook, or only 1 GB of ram choose the 32 bit version.” sounds good to me. --- As for phasing out 32-bit releases completely, I think it's too early to have much discussion about that and the above topic is much more relevant. But if insisted, first of all I think the first gen Atoms can be forgotten about with Unity8 in 16.04 LTS. Qt 5 will require OpenGL 2.0 / shaders. So the topic is more about the 9+ years old desktop/laptop computers (or CPUs, to be exact) around that time. They can certainly be beefy enough with some expansions, considering Unity8 also runs on mobile devices, and 10-15 years use of a computer should be considered possible. So I'd say 18.04 LTS could be, for example, the last LTS to ship 32-bit version (images, kernels). By 2023, when support for 18.04 LTS would end, it'll be 16 years since last new computers sold with non-64-bit CPUs. But even after that at least community supported 32-bit kernels would be needed for Lubuntu & co that can be installed on late 1990s -> computers. -Timo -- ubuntu-desktop mailing list ubuntu-desktop@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-desktop
