Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
Back in June, the Fedora team proposed ditching support for 32-bit architecture starting with Fedora 44. That wasn't just a strike against 32-bit hardware but also a strike against any 32-bit applications remaining in the wild.
In a discussion thread on the Fedora Project website, it was made clear that the change would break the FEX rootfs that has been in production since Fedora 42, which could have a direct impact on Linux gaming. There was also concern for Podman/Docker/Toolbox containers that use 32-bit (or 64-bit multilib) operating systems to run older native apps.
Needless to say, the Fedora community didn't respond well to the announcement, so the Fedora team decided to back off on its decision.
In the withdrawal of the proposal, Fabio Valentini (a member of the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee) stated, "It is clear that the Fedora 44 target for this Change was too early. To some degree, I expected this to be the case, and was prepared to move the proposed implementation of the Change to a later release." Valentini continues, "Fedora 44 was just the earliest 'reasonable' target. However, I think this also shows an inherent conflict in the current Changes process -- if a big Change (like this one) is submitted quite early (out of caution!), that also front-loads the discussion and decision process instead of giving things more time."
Long story short, the proposal to remove 32-bit support from Fedora has been withdrawn. Let the Linux gaming party begin.
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