32-bit ARM Is Also On The Chopping Block For Ubuntu

Not only are developers talking about dropping Ubuntu 32-bit x86 support but the ARMHF support might also be cut as well for 32-bit ARM boards.

With ARMv8 ushering in 64-bit ARM has been common now for years, Ubuntu developers are also considering dropping the Ubuntu ARM hard-float port for ARMv7 support. This is a tiny bit surprising considering the wide number of 32-bit ARM SBCs out in the wild, including some ARMv7 boards still being peddled by different vendors. But then again it's not too often we see ARM SBCs support Ubuntu releases outside of the LTS cycles: Ubuntu 18.04 will remain available with armhf and by the time of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, hopefully many of these other boards will have been phased out from any production purposes. There are still occasional ARM SBC reference images I come across even using the aging Ubuntu 14.04 and many of the older 32-bit ARM boards currently using 16.04 probably won't see updates to 18.04.

Many Ubuntu releases ago, building a 96-core ARM 32-bit solar-powered super computer.

The dropping of the ARM hard-float port has come up repeatedly as part of the discontinuing i386 on the ubuntu-devel list. There is nothing concrete at this stage, but some are suggesting that this change happen during the Ubuntu 18.10 cycle so users won't upgrade to a non-LTS release and be stuck while there is more of a consensus to just phase out the support by Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.