[lubuntu-devel] Architecture EOL plans for Lubuntu

[Bryan Quigley]

Hi Lubuntu team,

>From the thread on Ubuntu-devel/discuss [1] I'm going to start
conversations with each flavor on what their plans are for i386 in the
18.04 timeframe.  I have some survey results [2] that might help with planning.

Lubuntu also has a PowerPC port so discussing plans around that might
be worth while as well.

The general ideas are either:
*Start Dropping i386 for Lubuntu now*
A. Drop Lubuntu i386 ISO for 16.10
B. In addition to A, also block upgrades by dropping packages from
i386 archive (say lxde-core).

Some Pros:  Halves the test cases you need to go through.   Reduces
bandwidth usage and makes it more obvious for new users what to
download.  (Read other thread for some others)

*Wait until after 18.04 and then reconsider dropping i386*

Pros:  Maintain older hardware running Lubuntu for another 2+
years (up from 3 years).

Thoughts?
Bryan

* You could consider any packages that are 100% specific to the Lubuntu flavor.

[1] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2016-June/039420.html

[2] The total results for Lubuntu  (43 of the 300 responses).
Not surprising given that you are the most lightweight (by memory)
distribution, users expected to get longer use out of their machines
then with any other desktop flavor.

How long do you expect this machine to last?
at least 1 year 4
at least 3 years 13
at least 5 years 8
at least 7 years or more 18

What would be the effect if support ended... (1 is no impact, 5 is
significant impact)
April 2019 (16.04 LTS support ends here for Lubuntu - 3 year LTS)
1 - 4
2 - 5
3 - 8
4 - 7
5 - 17

April 2021
1 - 11
2 - 9
3 - 5
4 - 4
5 - 12

April 2023
1 - 22
2 - 4
3 - 2
4 - 1
5 - 11

i386 - To be clear I mean any 32-bit x86 platform (usually AMD/Intel/VIA).
PowerPC - Apple Macintosh G3, G4, and G5 computers, including iBooks
and PowerBooks as well as older IBM OpenPower 7xx machines.