i386 EOL plans for Xubuntu?

[JMZ]

Bryan,

Thanks for the invite.  This event isn't at a good time for me (10 am on 
the American east coast), but keep us posted on other architecture 
events.  I'd like to "sit in" on a session sometime.

Has there been any feedback from users in developing countries about the 
saturation of dual- or multiple-core systems in their region?  One could 
argue that any single-core system (i.e. Pentium 4) still running is 
likely to experience a motherboard failure (busted capacitor?) sometime 
soon.  Still, it's likely that at least some schools, municipalities 
etc. in a developing region still use a P4 despite age and wear.

On 11/14/2016 12:07 PM, Bryan Quigley 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 Mon, Jul 11, 2016 at 2:23 PM, Bryan Quigley
> <bryan.quigley at canonical.com> wrote:
>> Hi Xubuntu 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.
>>
>> The general ideas are either:
>> *Start Dropping i386 for Xubuntu now*
>> A. Drop Xubuntu i386 ISO for 16.10
>> B. In addition to A, also block upgrades by dropping packages from
>> i386 archive (say xfwm4, but that would need to wait for other derivs..).
>>
>> 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 Xubuntu for another 2+
>> years (up from 3 years).
>>
>> Thoughts?
>> Bryan
>>
>> * You could consider any packages that are 100% specific to the
>> Xubuntu flavor.  I'll be reaching out to Mythbuntu and Ubuntu Studio
>> separately.
>>
>> [1] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2016-June/039420.html
>>
>> [2] The total results for Xubuntu  (48 of the 300 responses - Second
>> most responses).
>>
>> How long do you expect this machine to last?
>> at least 1 year - 3
>> at least 3 years - 18
>> at least 5 years - 16
>> at least 7 years or more - 11
>>
>> 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 Xubuntu - 3 year LTS)
>> 1 - 5
>> 2 - 6
>> 3 - 8
>> 4 - 9
>> 5 - 17
>>
>> April 2021
>> 1 - 10
>> 2 - 8
>> 3 - 12
>> 4 - 8
>> 5 - 7
>>
>> April 2023
>> 1 - 23
>> 2 - 8
>> 3 - 6
>> 4 - 5
>> 5 - 4
>>
>> i386 - To be clear I mean any 32-bit x86 platform (usually AMD/Intel/VIA).