No More i686 Kernels

Summary

Stop building i686 kernels, reduce the i686 package to a kernel-headers package that can be used to build 32bit versions of everything else.

Owner

Name: Justin Forbes
Email: jforbes@fedoraproject.org
Release notes owner:

Current status

Targeted release: Fedora 27
Last updated: 2017-07-10
Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>

Detailed Description

The i686 kernel is of limited use as most x86 hardware supports 64bit these days. It has been in a status of "community supported" for a couple of years now. As such, it gets very little testing, and issues frequently appear upstream. These tend to go unnoticed for long periods of time. When issues are found, it is often a long time before they are fixed because they are considered low priority by most developers upstream. This can leave other architectures waiting for important updates, and provides a less than desirable experience for people choosing to run a 32bit kernel. With this proposal, the i686 kernel will no longer be built. A kernel headers package will still exist, and all 32bit packages should continue to build as normal. The main difference is there would no longer be bootable 32bit images.

Benefit to Fedora

More testable kernel updates, faster fixes for security bugs, and lowered exposure.

Scope

Proposal owners:

Changes to the kernel spec to stop the actual i686 builds, but keep the kernel-headers package.

Other developers: NA

Release engineering: #Releng issue number (a check of an impact with Release Engineering is needed)
- List of deliverables: N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Policies and guidelines: N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)

Upgrade/compatibility impact

32bit i686 users will need to reinstall as x86_64 with the next release.

How To Test

N/A Nothing to test, we simply stop producing a flavor of the kernel package.

User Experience

The few 32bit users will have the full lifecycle of Fedora 26 to choose a time to upgrade to a 64bit installation. Some old hardware will no longer be supported by fedora.

Dependencies

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Contingency Plan

Contingency mechanism: (What to do? Who will do it?) N/A (not a System Wide Change)
Contingency deadline: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
Blocks release? N/A (not a System Wide Change), Yes/No
Blocks product? product

Documentation