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Firefox is Ending Support for 32 bit Linux (www.omgubuntu.co.uk)
submitted 2 days ago by cm0002@piefed.world to c/linux@programming.dev
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[-] bus_factor@lemmy.world 46 points 1 day ago

Debian Trixie just released, and they dropped support for 32-bit x86. You can still run 32-bit software, but the OS must be running on amd64 (aka x86_64). Given the amount of distros which are Debian derivatives, there's probably not going to be a whole lot of systems around to run 32-bit Firefox on anyway.

[-] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 19 points 1 day ago

It's a bit like a henn-egg problem: Debian does no longer support i386 as many projects have dropped their support. Projects drop their support, because there are only few systems with that architecture still in use...

From trixie, i386 is no longer supported as a regular architecture: there is no official kernel and no Debian installer for i386 systems. Fewer packages are available for i386 because many projects no longer support it. The architecture’s sole remaining purpose is to support running legacy code, for example, by way of multiarch or a chroot on a 64-bit (amd64) system.

https://www.debian.org/releases/trixie/release-notes/issues.en.html#reduced-support-for-i386

[-] SSUPII@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 day ago

The i386 branch still exists, they dropped the installer.

You can upgrade a Debian 12 i386 system just fine to Debian 13

[-] noahimesaka1873@lemmy.funami.tech 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

They did explicitly said that it's completely unsupported scenario. It's only for multiarch usage so even kernel isn't provided.

Users running i386 systems should not upgrade to trixie.

From https://www.debian.org/releases/trixie/release-notes/issues.en.html#reduced-support-for-i386

[-] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 8 points 1 day ago

That depends on the specific CPU model used:

The i386 architecture is now only intended to be used on a 64-bit (amd64) CPU. Its instruction set requirements include SSE2 support, so it will not run successfully on most of the 32-bit CPU types that were supported by Debian 12.

[-] morto@piefed.social 13 points 1 day ago

Running 32-bit firefox is the only viable way to use my mini laptop that has only 2gb of ram :(

[-] buddascrayon@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

I'm looking for my old Nokia phone so I can throw it at you.

[-] morto@piefed.social 5 points 1 day ago

An old nokia!? Such scale of firepower is considered a war crime!

[-] Sina@beehaw.org 5 points 1 day ago

2gb ram with a window manager is enough for 4-5 tabs, however if it has a single core 32 bit cpu the modern internet is borderline unusable already. The memory capacity is a non issue in that case.

[-] morto@piefed.social 4 points 1 day ago

It's a 64-bit cpu. From personal experience, using 32 bit firefox, I can run a bit more tabs. It's enough for my use case, which is editing text documents and doing a bit of online research while in bed. I use it as an auxiliary device and sync my files using syncthing.

[-] entwine@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago

If ever there was a justified case for sending a machine to the landfill, this one seems like a good candidate.

Why would you even want to use such a terrible machine? Is it nostalgia, ideals, masochism, a weird fetish, or something else? It definitely isn't money, as you can find something much better by going dumpster diving.

[-] communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 2 points 6 hours ago

Send him a new one personally, thanks

[-] morto@piefed.social 11 points 1 day ago

Whoa, take a deep breath, relax a bit. Modern life can get us constantly on our nerves, I understand it, but let's not take it out on each other.

About the machine, it's a very comfortable one to do writing work, and still works fine, so why not use it? Also, I'm from a "global south" country, and I can't afford to replace stuff when I still have something in working conditions. Dumpsters around here don't contain working electronic devices, by the way.

I didn't comment like complaining in a demanding way, like thinking that mozilla devs would have to maintain it for me. I just commented to express myself and show that there are real people still using 32-bit software around the world

[-] entwine@programming.dev 2 points 10 hours ago

Whoa, take a deep breath, relax a bit. Modern life can get us constantly on our nerves, I understand it, but let’s not take it out on each other.

Any comment can appear hostile if you that's what you're looking for. I didn't think my comment was hostile, but intent isn't always obvious on the internet (and up/downvote systems tend to quickly distort it). In any case, if you're trying to keep a discussion civil, making condescending assumptions about someone's mental state is the wrong approach.

I didn’t comment like complaining in a demanding way, like thinking that mozilla devs would have to maintain it for me. I just commented to express myself and show that there are real people still using 32-bit software around the world

That's fine, and I never accused you of doing so.

I assume you saw my other comment already in this thread, which explains my position. I'll take this to mean that we're in agreement, so this exchange can have a happy ending 💖

[-] Hexarei@beehaw.org 6 points 1 day ago

I mean. "It's fun and still works for what I use it for" seems like a fine reason to me, just saying.

[-] entwine@programming.dev 1 points 1 day ago

It depends. Spend enough time on bug trackers and forums for open source software, and you're bound to encounter hostile assholes shitting on devs when they make decisions to drop support for ancient hardware like the OP. It's particularly egregious IMO because they usually are willing and happy to use an ancient build of some proprietary software without complaining, but feel entitled to demand more from open source maintainers for some reason.

If you're doing it for your own fun, not making demands of devs/maintainers, and accepting that you're not going to get support for a lot of software, then it's all good.

[-] bus_factor@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

It's pretty obvious they like the form factor, otherwise "mini laptop" would not have been mentioned explicitly.

...and I get it. I used to have an old Compaq Evo N200 ultraportable which was about the size of an iPad. It was awesome. Way too slow for modern web use, though.

[-] buddascrayon@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Yeah cause it's not like there's a thousand tablets out there that you can pick up that are the exact same form factor.

[-] bus_factor@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Some people like their screen and keyboard being attached to each other.

[-] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

... and probably only has a 32-bit Intel Atom processor.

[-] morto@piefed.social 4 points 1 day ago

It's a bay trail series, it's 64-bit. I'm running mx linux and only installed the 32-bit firefox using multiarch, because the difference is pretty noticeable

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

Does that mean a smaller binary somehow? Less code? Eventually maybe?

[-] otter@lemmy.ca 38 points 1 day ago

It could mean faster development if they can spend that time on other things

[-] RogueBanana@piefed.zip 14 points 1 day ago

More AI features. Hooray!

[-] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 10 points 1 day ago

It just means they won’t test 32 bit versions for bugs. The impact on binary size will be non-negligible.

[-] antonim@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 day ago

So... the impact will be gligible?

this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
135 points (100.0% liked)

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