> There are still some people who need to run 32-bit applications that cannot be updated; the solution he has been pushing people toward is to run a 32-bit user space on a 64-bit kernel. This is a good solution for memory-constrained systems; switching to 32-bit halves the memory usage of the system. Since, on most systems, almost all memory is used by user space, running a 64-bit kernel has a relatively small cost. Please, he asked, do not run 32-bit kernels on 64-bit processors.Ohhh yes!
So, a couple of weeks ago I came across a discussion where some distro (I don't remember which one) contemplated removing 32-bit user space support, suggesting to users to simply run a VM running a 32 bit Linux instead. It was a stupid suggestion then, and this statement is a nice authorative answer from the kernel side, where such suggestions can be shoved to.
chasil|6 months ago
"Linking against 32-bit multilib packages has been removed. The *.i686 packages remain supported for the life cycle of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9."
https://docs.redhat.com/en/documentation/red_hat_enterprise_...
DrillShopper|6 months ago
I've been pushing hard for us to move off SLES as a result, and I do not recommend it to anyone who wants a stable distribution that doesn't fuck over its users for stupid reasons.