[lubuntu-devel] Architecture EOL plans for Lubuntu

[Julien Lavergne]

Hi,

We usually try to maintain support for hardware as long as possible.
Last time support for PAE was dropped, we had many complains about the
drop of this support. So, I can't be in favor of dropping such
support.

The essence of Lubuntu is to keep hardware as long as they can
physically live. That includes 10 years old computers, which still
works. Since I started to work on Lubuntu, I fight against Apple and
Microsoft concept of "If you want a new OS, by a new hardware". Some
people can't offer this, not everyone can buy hardware like in Europe
or US.

But well, I'm not a kernel maintainer, or an repository admin, so I
can't force Ubuntu to maintain this. However, I'll be sad if Ubuntu
became "Linux for 90 % [1] of people, the ones with not so old
hardware".

So, short answer : wait until 18.04.

Regards,
Julien Lavergne

[1] completely random number, but you know what I mean.

2016-07-11 20:36 GMT+02:00 Bryan Quigley <bryan.quigley at canonical.com>:
> 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.
>
> --
> Lubuntu-devel mailing list
> Lubuntu-devel at lists.ubuntu.com
> Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/lubuntu-devel