Linux newbie install issues

Doing a little more digging, I find that Bodhi, Peppermint, and Zorin are all based on Ubuntu 18.04. As @KGIII indicated above, it looks like these will be losing support next month, and that's a problem. Peppermint is working on version 11, but it has been slow going since their primary developer died a year ago. Zorin is working on version 16. Bodhi has been pretty constant over many years too, and I'd expect to see a new version from them soon as well.

The downside to these new versions is that they will likely be based on Ubuntu 20.04... and they will no longer support 32-bit installations.
 


stan said:
Doing a little more digging, I find that Bodhi, Peppermint, and Zorin are all based on Ubuntu 18.04. As @KGIII indicated above, it looks like these will be losing support next month, and that's a problem. Peppermint is working on version 11, but it has been slow going since their primary developer died a year ago. Zorin is working on version 16. Bodhi has been pretty constant over many years too, and I'd expect to see a new version from them soon as well.

The downside to these new versions is that they will likely be based on Ubuntu 20.04... and they will no longer support 32-bit installations.
Click to expand...
Maybe so. But it's not that 32bit source code doesn't exist upstream, it's just that *buntu doesn't want to deal with it. Yes, 32bit will become more difficult to find, just because the demand isn't as great as it used to be. It'll be "niche-ware".
 
jglen490 said:
it's just that *buntu doesn't want to deal with it.
Click to expand...

From hanging out with some of the devs, I learned the reason they stopped supporting it. They'd love to have kept 32 bit support but they weren't getting enough people testing on 32 bit hardware. Time is a finite resource and so they made the decision to stop supporting 32 bit.
 
They aren't selling 32-bit PC's anymore to test on either. Not that I'm aware of. More and more of these old machines are recycled or tossed into landfills every year. The market demand shrinks, and time marches on. But this has been a very long, slow death... compared to how fast UEFI overtook BIOS as standard PC motherboard firmware. Almost overnight, with the Windows 8 release, UEFI was required and all bowed down to Microsoft. :rolleyes:

But strangely enough, Microsoft still offers users 32-bit Windows 10... go figure. However, they have stopped offering the 32-bit version to manufacturers (according to this).
 
KGIII said:
...Time is a finite resource and so they made the decision to stop supporting 32 bit.
Click to expand...
Sure, it's a "business decision", 32 bit is not a priority (for whatever reasons). Not wanting to deal with it is not an evil decision, it is based on rational decision-making. And @stan has a good point; at best, any current 32 bit machines are going to be niche devices.
 
Ah, I wasn't very clear.

What I was trying to imply was that if more folks had stepped up and done testing they'd still be publishing a 32 bit version. That was one of the reasons that motivated me to start doing daily testing for Lubuntu. Not for 32 bit, as that's in the past and I don't even have any 32 bit hardware, but because I don't want Lubuntu to end up on the chopping block due to lack of testing.

It's surprisingly small. The testing is done by just three of us. All three of us have stepped up recently.

If you have time, volunteer a little of it (if you want). They'll find a way to put your hours to good use.
 
Good Sunday morning from Oz, all :)

I just want to correct a misapprehension that has been raised, following David G (@KGIII ) 's #14 (which was correct) and stan at #21. Namely, EOL (end of life) on some of these Distros.

It is the Community Editions of Ubuntu (Kubuntu, Lubuntu and Xubuntu) for which support ends next month (29 April I think). That also applies to Distros that are based on those 3.

That is for the 18.04 version, based on Ubuntu 18.04.

The full Ubuntu 18.04 derivatives, namely Ubuntu GNOME aka Desktop and Ubuntu MATE, have support until April 2023, and that therefore applies to other Distros associated, including but not limited to:

Linux Mint 18 series
Peppermint 10 and Peppermint 10 Respin
Zorin 15
Bodhi

Bodhi have this

https://www.bodhilinux.com/w/release-cycle/

which says in part

Release Model

Bodhi Linux follows what we call a “semi-rolling” release cycle based around Ubuntu LTS (long-term support) releases. This means that every new major Bodhi Linux release is built on the latest Ubuntu LTS release. Bodhi has had three major releases to date:


  • 6.y.z -> Based on Ubuntu 20.04 (next major release/will be supported until 2023)
  • 5.y.z -> Based on Ubuntu 18.04 (current major release/will be supported until 2023)
  • 4.y.z -> Based on Ubuntu 16.04 (security updates/support 2021)
  • 3.y.z -> Based on Ubuntu 14.04 (no longer supported – dropped 2019)
  • 2.y.z -> Based on Ubuntu 12.04 (no longer supported – dropped 2017)
  • 1.y.z -> Based on Ubuntu 10.04 (no longer supported – dropped 2015)
Click to expand...

So don't go scrambling to upgrade unless you have Kubuntu, Lubuntu, or Xubuntu or related.

Cheers

Wizard
More coffee
 
  • 6.y.z -> Based on Ubuntu 20.04 (next major release/will be supported until 2023)
  • 5.y.z -> Based on Ubuntu 18.04 (current major release/will be supported until 2023)
Click to expand...
Thanks, Chris. But Bodhi still gives us confusion with a typo on their website, which you quoted correctly. I take it that Bodhi v6 will be good until 2025, not 2023. D'oh! :oops::D

And how strange is it that Ubuntu's own community spins get shortchanged on support while derivatives get the full term. Oh well...
 
maybe it is my inquisitive mind in overdrive.......but......Why?

Ubuntu would not do something like that without good reason......or would they?
 
Condobloke said:
maybe it is my inquisitive mind in overdrive.......but......Why?
Click to expand...

Too few testers for 32 bit hardware and the product team decided to invest the time elsewhere.

As for why the official flavors (Lubuntu/Xubuntu/Kubuntu) are only offering 3 years is entirely up to their individual communities. They're actually fairly small teams of people, so they move on after 3 years.

The Ubuntu-specific bits should keep updating for a while longer - but any of the official-flavor bits will not be updated. So, security flaws and bugs will not be fixed. Additionally, you won't get support at places like AskUbuntu. Continuing to run them would be generally considered a bad idea.

Straight up Ubuntu is supported longer - but the only 18.04 32 bit was a minimal or net install or something like that. I don't believe they'll keep that supported - only the official build and the server build (maybe?).
 
Make a person glad to be with Linux Mint.......less uncertainty.?
 
Condobloke said:
Make a person glad to be with Linux Mint.......less uncertainty.?
Click to expand...

It's not like it was a surprise. Ubuntu gave a whole lot of notifications early on. So, there's that. There was very ample warning that this day was coming.

Folks have had plenty of time to transition away from Ubuntu or away from 32 bit hardware. They made the announcement well before 18.04 was even released. Folks have had at least 3 years to prepare for this. That's a heck of a lot longer than the CentOS fiasco and many other major paradigm shifts.

In its place is arm64 support for (some) embedded devices and SBCs like the Raspberry Pi.

Yup, they had more people with a Pi willing to test than they had testers with 32 bit architectures. I've been told that if more folks had stepped up to continue testing with 32 bit hardware then they'd still be doing 32 bit releases. I've heard that from multiple reliable sources, so I tend to believe it as those sources are all developers.

If you want to keep that old architecture alive, get involved. Start filing bug reports, start going to their individual support sites and answering questions, start testing the next release, and stuff like that. If we people had done that we'd still have 32 bit support.

Emphasis on the 'we people' because I'm one of them that didn't get involved. This event is one of them that influenced my decision to get involved. I want the distro that I use to stay current and to continue to exist, so I spend about an hour a day testing and filing reports.
 
It would be of interest to know the current number of users of 32 bit systems etc....in other words, what is the need/market for 32bit....both in the public arena and in the business arena. PC manufacturers will not continue to make 32bit machines if there is no market for them.
Likewise, the public will not seek out a 32it to buy if their goals and objectives are met by a 64 bit .....when the 64 is in plentiful supply, as are its apps etc etc
 
KGIII said:
April 2021 is EOL for 32 bit MATE.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying that, David - I have the 64-bit and knew it was OK, but that's good to know. :)

Wiz
 
wizardfromoz said:
Thanks for clarifying that, David - I have the 64-bit and knew it was OK, but that's good to know.
Click to expand...

With Debian keeping 32 bit support, I suspect many 32 bit options will remain for a while longer.

The topic has made me think. I think I may have a really, really old 32 bit laptop in the basement. I should go look for it.

Wait, no... No, I should go to bed.
 
Condobloke said:
what is the need/market for 32bit....both in the public arena and in the business arena.
Click to expand...

I have no numbers but at least Intel still makes 32 bit CPUs for embedded stuff. They can run cooler, use less energy, and have fewer instruction sets loaded so that they are faster than they'd otherwise be (in some areas). Quark is 32 bit, for microcontrollers, and I'm pretty sure they did something newer than that (that was first released in 2016ish) but I can't immediately find it on Intel's site, but I'm pretty sure it exists.
 
OK folks there is some significant, if not off-topic, then extraneous content going on here, which albeit interesting to some of us may be superfluous to the OP (original poster).

I can summarise this on my tomorrow for
  • Distro options that are
  • 32-bit and
  • likely to be supported for a significant period of time
Unless someone does it while I am catching zzzz's.

Cheers
:)

Wizard
 
Summarising, then, I'll order these as they were suggested:

LMDE (LInux Mint Debian Edition)

System requirements
  • 1GB RAM (2GB recommended for a comfortable usage).
  • 15GB of disk space (20GB recommended).
  • 1024×768 resolution (on lower resolutions, press ALT to drag windows with the mouse if they don't fit in the screen).
20 Mar 2020
Click to expand...

Download from - https://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

Zorin Linux Lite

Download from - https://zorinos.com/download/15/lite/

Peppermint Linux Respin

Download from - https://peppermintos.com/guide/downloading/

MX Linux

Download from - https://sourceforge.net/projects/mx-linux/files/Final/MX-19.3_386.iso/download

Debian Linux

Download from -

https://cdimage.debian.org/images/u...firmware/10.8.0-live+nonfree/i386/iso-hybrid/

antiX

Download from - https://antixlinux.com/download/

Bodhi Linux (correct spelling, pronounced as "body")

Minimum: 32bit, 500MHz (Non-PAE) processor. 512MB** of RAM. 5GB of drive space.
...
  • 64bit, 1.0GHz processor.
  • 768MB of RAM.
  • 10GB of drive space.
Click to expand...

Download from - https://www.bodhilinux.com/download/
 
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