Is there an Ubuntu variant these days that works on 32-bit?
from br3d@lemmy.world to linux@lemmy.ml on 05 Nov 18:44
https://lemmy.world/post/21669098

I’ve got an older machine that I’d like to give a second life. I’ve always been an Ubuntu fan in the past, but checking their site for a lightweight distri it looks like they’ve gone all 64 bit. Is that right? Can I still get a recent version for a 32-bit processor?

#linux

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stuner@lemmy.world on 05 Nov 19:05 next collapse

It seems that 18.04 was the last release for 32-bit x86 (i386): askubuntu.com/…/latest-version-of-ubuntu-for-i386…

But you could just go for Debian which still supports it.

merci3@lemmy.world on 05 Nov 19:06 next collapse

LMDE. Not Ubuntu based, but Debian based so its the closest I can think on the top of my head. It got 32 bit support and Cinnamon desktop.

br3d@lemmy.world on 05 Nov 19:38 collapse

Thank you - I’ll have a look at that

Shareni@programming.dev on 05 Nov 19:45 next collapse

Check out Antix, Debian based, and it’s primarily made for older devices and has a 32bit ISO

floofloof@lemmy.ca on 05 Nov 21:07 next collapse

I second this suggestion. I have an old touchscreen PC from about 2001 with a Via Eden CPU, which is an incredibly feeble low-power processor that lacks some instructions that were common even in 32-bit days, and Antix was the only reasonably modern distro I could get to run on it.

refurbishedrefurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org on 05 Nov 21:56 collapse

AntiX runs great on my late 90s Celeron rig with a 1.2GHz single core socket 370 Celeron with 256MB RAM.

Runs waaaaaay better than Windows XP and slightly slower than Windows 98 SE.

Libb@jlai.lu on 05 Nov 19:57 next collapse

Well, Debian has a 32-bit ISO, and since Ubuntu is based on Debian you may consider giving it a try?

www.debian.org/distrib/

0x0@programming.dev on 05 Nov 20:08 next collapse

From a recent search i made, with similar purpose, these may support x86 and are based on either Debian or Ubuntu: antiX, Q4OS, Slax; Zorin Lite, LXLE.

(I haven’t combed through the results yet so YMMV and there may be cadavers.)

br3d@lemmy.world on 05 Nov 20:43 collapse

Thank you - that’s a really useful answer. I’ll check them out

Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 05 Nov 21:16 next collapse

Peppermint - not Ubuntu, but Debian, so it’s pretty similar

br3d@lemmy.world on 05 Nov 22:17 collapse

Thanks!

Navigator@jlai.lu on 06 Nov 06:18 next collapse

Poppy Linux should do.

scratchandgame@lemmy.ml on 06 Nov 11:43 next collapse

Just install plan 9. It is better than anything else.

markstos@lemmy.world on 06 Nov 15:05 collapse

Interesting research project but it’s not Linux and doesn’t natively run Linux apps.

www.theregister.com/…/successor_to_unix_plan_9/

norambna@programming.dev on 06 Nov 15:29 next collapse

MX Linux is a nice Debian based distro that still supports 32-bit. Or you could use just Debian.

tomjuggler@lemmy.world on 06 Nov 16:44 collapse

I have MX Linux on my old Dell Inspiron 1300 that refuses to die after 20 years. Great distro, I like it better than Ubuntu in some ways - just difficult to install some software built for 64 bit only of course

Eyelessoozeguy@lemmy.world on 07 Nov 00:16 collapse

I’ve had luck with puppy Linux on 32-bit machines. I also got arch32 working on a few. Arch is a steepper learning curve as the arch-install script doesn’t work on 32. Related there’s quite a group keeping parabola working on all manner of systems including 32, if libre is more your style.