[CentOS-devel] 32 bit Centos 7

[Scott Dowdle]

Greetings,

----- Original Message -----
> There's also a very large commercial 32bit user base that is being
> abandoned by the upstream. I know the "Centos marks" can't be used
> in commercial markets, but this is a topic that could use some
> thought.
> 
> I'm talking on the order of hundreds of thousands of platforms that
> require newer os features, but logistics fail to allow the hardware
> to be updated. I'm not talking theoretical here, I'm talking of a
> legitimate case where the upstream is abandoning its existing
> customer base and trying to force hardware upgrade schedules. Is it
> past time everything was 64bit? Sure. Does that mean I can just wave
> a magic wand and make it happen on their schedule? Absolutely not.

Upstream has also "abandoned" a significant number of hardware RAID cards and network cards in EL7.  I have a few HP Proliant 64-bit servers that are about 6 or 7 years old... and the RAID card isn't detected in 7 where it was in 6.  I've heard a few other people mention the same thing with regards to their NICs.

So besides the hundreds of thousands of existing systems running 32-bit only, there are also quite a few other systems that are incompatible with EL7 because of other hardware.

Answer, continue to use 6 for the years it has left.

If EL6 died on EL7 release day, then yes there would be an "abandonment"... but since 6 still has a few years left on it, not so much.

TYL,
-- 
Scott Dowdle
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