Fedora Linux 44 to Stop Supporting 32-Bit Applications for X86 Architecture
In the release of Fedora Linux 44, scheduled for the spring of 2026, plans are underway to terminate support for the launch of 32-bit applications for architecture X86. If approved by the Fesco (Fedora Engineering Steering Committee) committee, the assembly of packages for the i686 architecture and 32-bit libraries (Multilib) will cease, providing compatibility with 32-bit applications in the environment X86_64.
The supply of Linux kernel, installation images, and individual repositories of packages for 32-bit systems X86 was discontinued in 2019 with Fedora 31. Support for launching 32-bit applications in installations for X86_64 systems and 32-bit packages placed in repositories for X86_64 systems were retained. Fedora 37 introduced the option to stop assembling packages for the i686 architecture if the package is not dependent on other packages. Currently, there are approximately ten thousand 32-bit packages (i686) in Fedora, mainly used for running Wine and 32-bit games.
The distribution plans to transition to supplying 64-bit Wine packages, utilizing the Wow64 (64-bit windows-on-windows) mode to run 32-bit Windows applications on 64-bit UNIX systems. Supplying 64-bit Wine packages will reduce the need for Multilib. The discontinuation of i686 support will occur in two stages: first, the publication of 32-bit libraries in X86_64 repositories will stop, followed by discontinuing the assembly of packages for the i686 architecture. If unexpected issues arise during the first stage, the change can be reverted to continue publishing packages.
Main reasons for the termination of i686 architecture support:
- Removing a large number of 32-bit packages will speed up package operations due to reduced indices and metadata size;
- Reduced workload on developers, allowing more time to focus on 64-bit systems;
- Easier formation and testing of releases;
- Reduction in resource consumption in assembly infrastructure.