[lubuntu-devel] dropping i386/PPC (was: Re: State of PPC)

[Walter Lapchynski]

It should be pointed out that this discussion is not only about PPC but
it's also about i386. Since i386 is a major target of Lubuntu, I would
advise attendance.

On Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 9:14 AM, Bryan Quigley <bryan.quigley at canonical.com>
wrote:

> Sorry for the late notice - there is a live discussion scheduled for
> this Wednesday on this topic for any flavors that want to further the
> discussion.
>
> http://summit.ubuntu.com/uos-16 11/meeting/22714/architecture-discussions/
>
> On Fri, Jul 22, 2016 at 4:59 PM, Walter Lapchynski <wxl at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> > As you can see from the page on [PPC][1], the architecture has only
> > community support from Ubuntu. Lubuntu has been trying as much as we can
> to
> > support this, but the fact of the matter is that we have no developers on
> > our team that can actually help with PPC bugs.
> >
> > The best you can hope for is that kernel developers (mostly, the issue is
> > with drivers) might have some interest in fixing bugs. However, with only
> > community support, that's unlikely. Most of the focus on PPC has been on
> the
> > server side of things, where graphics just don't come into play.
> >
> > My estimation of things is that Lubuntu on PPC mostly works, given a few
> > caveats. All we need to do to release PPC is for all of the test cases
> to be
> > completed successfully (regardless of whether or not there are bugs) and
> > that marked on the QA tracker for the final testing of each milestone.
> If we
> > don't have that done, Canonical will not let us release it.
> >
> > PPC was what brought me originally to Lubuntu, so there's a special place
> > for it in my heart. Having an OS make that old hardware work was very
> > refreshing and introduced me to the real power and mission of Lubuntu.
> >
> > However, I haven't ran PPC in a long, long time. That being said, I'm
> not of
> > much help. We rely on the community of users to help out. When I don't
> see
> > testing happening in the community, it makes me think that I'm not the
> only
> > one that's neglected their PPC machines.
> >
> > The reality of the situation is that there has been much talk throughout
> the
> > Ubuntu community over the past few years about getting rid of i386. If
> that
> > happens, I can't imagine that Canonical keeping PPC. With that in mind, I
> > think the end of PPC Lubuntu is coming regardless of what our feelings
> are.
> >
> > Furthermore, the Lubuntu Team is a small one and we often lack the
> capacity
> > to do the things that we need to do. PPC is just stretching us even
> thinner,
> > and into an area few of us really have the experience, knowledge,
> resources,
> > or time to deal with.
> >
> > That said, I'm inclined to suggest we start the process of removing PPC.
> We
> > managed to release an LTS, which is the only version we even bother with
> PPC
> > on. All we would need to do is ensure that all the point releases for
> Trusty
> > and Xenial get published. That would put us out until about August 2018.
> >
> > I think ultimately this will be better for the team. Most importantly,
> > though, I think it will be better for the PPC users that I fear we can't
> > really support and who we often leave with a frustrated experience.
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
> > [1]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPC
> > --
> > @wxl | http://polka.bike
> > Lubuntu Release Manager & Head of QA
> > Ubuntu PPC Point of Contact
> > Ubuntu Oregon LoCo Team Leader
> > Ubuntu Membership Board & LoCo Council Member
> > Eugene Unix & GNU/Linux User Group Co-Organizer
> >
> > --
> > Lubuntu-devel mailing list
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> >
>



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