Package: release-notes Severity: important X-Debbugs-Cc: [email protected]
Release notes for i386 currently state: "The i386 architecture is now only intended to be used on a 64-bit (amd64) CPU. Its instruction set requirements include SSE2 support, so it will not run successfully on most of the 32-bit CPU types that were supported by Debian 12." "Users running i386 systems should not upgrade to trixie. Instead, Debian recommends either reinstalling them as amd64, where possible, or retiring the hardware. Cross-grading without a reinstall is a technically possible, but risky, alternative." The second paragraph is especially problematic since 32-bit hardware cannot run 64-bit binaries. What it should instead state: "Users running i386 systems should therefore not upgrade to Trixie. Starting with Debian 13, the i386 architecture is only intended to be used on 64-bit (amd64) CPUs. Its instruction set requirements include SSE2 support, so it will not run successfully on most of the 32-bit CPUs that were supported by Debian 12. While it should still work on Intel Core and newer CPUs, users are strongly discouraged from upgrading. Instead, Debian recommends retiring all 32-bit hardware." It would be desirable for the above text to be updated accordingly ASAP. Thanks! Martin-Éric
