At Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:17:10 -0800 Michael Paoli <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
> So, where there is need/desire to keep Debian running long(er) term on
> x86 32-bit ("i386") (e.g. Pentium class chips that are not at all
> 64-bit), what's the best way to go about that?
> Recommendations/experiences?
>
> So, e.g. one could ...
>
> Stick with Debian 12 (the last released "i386" installable and kernels),
> and continue with that, now into oldstable, into LTS, then perhaps ELTS
> or self-support after that. Or ...
>
> Well, one of things I pleasantly discovered on Debian 13, is though it
> no longer supports i386 as installable nor provides i386 (686) 32-bit
> kernels, it does still have most everything else still available in i386
> architecture. So, e.g. it is possible (I've done it now, at least for
> testing on some VMs), to have Debian 12, configure APT and suitable
> pinning, such that both Debian 12 and 13 are configured, everything
> prefers 13, except the kernels, and all but the kernel(s) is(/are)
> upgraded to Debian 13, and with that configuration, the Debian 12
> kernels also do still receive their (security, etc.) updates (through
> oldstable, and later LTS, maybe even ELTS). Meanwhile, all else is
> supported and current under stable{,-{updates,security}} (and likewise
> oldstable for the kernels). I'm also wondering how that's likely to
> play out going forward, as Debian 14, etc. are released. Could again,
> upgrade everything but the kernels, and might still work, but I suspect
> likely at some future point, other core components/libraries/etc. will
> cease to be compatible with a sufficiently too old kernel (or Debian
> might more fully drop i386 with some > release).
>
> Anyway, at present do have some (effectively) Debian 13 i386 (all but
> kernel, kernel from Debian 12) systems, and wondering about the long(er)
> term viability of that (and support, etc.), vs., e.g. just keeping
> everything on 12.
>
> And I do of course realize these are relatively untested configurations,
> so, at least eventually, some things may break and/or not (fully) work.
> But I'm also guestimating, for the most part, only one major version
> apart, should for the most part work, notably also as often in-service
> systems transition through that phase through major version upgrades,
> and generally without issue.
>
Question: Does the upstream (eg kernel.org) contain support for building a
Debian 13-ish kernel targeting i686 kernel? If so, it is probably
possible to just compile Debian 13-ish kernel for a 32-bit x86 system -- maybe
not i[345]86, but very likely an i686 kernel.
>
>
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