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Comment by phippsbrad | Hacker News Reader

I have Intel Atom netbooks that currently run Ubuntu wonderfully. But they are low RAM and the 32bit version runs better than the 64bit (if they can even run 64bit). I am worried I will have to drop Ubuntu and switch to plain Debian because of this.

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Same. It's funny actually, last time I installed something on there I just assumed it was x86_64 and was thoroughly confused for a good few moments when the USB stick would not boot. But yeah, I, for one, still run Linux on i386 hardware. My netbook isn't obsolete. In fact, I don't think I can buy anything like it any more.

> My netbook isn't obsolete. In fact, I don't think I can buy anything like it any more.

That's pretty much the definition of obsolete

Antique ≠ obsolete

Funny that for other stuff it usually takes 100 years to be considered antique.

Wow... well you're completely sold on the whole planned obsolescence thing, aren't you? I suggest looking up obsolete in the dictionary.

I looked up obsolete in the Oxford English dictionary:

    No longer produced or used; out of date.

So, I think, by that definition, his point stands: it truly is the very definition of obsolete, as it is no longer produced.

Oh don't be silly. The "produced" part is obviously only applied to consumable items. Something is not obsolete because it is no longer manufactured. It might be obsolete if consumable parts for it are no longer manufactured. Nobody would use obsolete to refer to a tool that still performs its intended function but is no longer manufactured.

The Oxford English dictionary provides synonyms for obsolete. While 'fallen into disuse' is one synonym provided, another is 'discontinued'.

Your definition of obsolete, while correct, is not complete.

There's a crop of light, cheap Chinese laptops based on Atoms (well, they call them "Apollo Lake") which are the closes you can get to a modern day netbook. Google N3450 (the most popular CPU), or brands like Chuwi, Jumper or Onda.

Where do you usually buy them from? Alibaba?

Banggood carries a lot of these lower-powered computers and phones if you like something that's more of a store instead of a buyer/seller marketplace.

Also a great place for DIY project supplies. They sell a lot of electronics parts, CNC bits (not sure about the quality), quadrocoptor parts, etc.

Largely for the shadowbanned reply to this: For Linux tinkerers, there are tons of cheap Chromebooks with Apollo Lake that can be reflashed and/or put in dev mode and happily run regular Linux.

Do you plan on keeping those Atom machines for longer than 2021? Because otherwise it should not be an issue, as you can still use 16.04 with the latest patches until 2021.

How much better do the 32-bit versions run?

I still use my old second-hand Samsung N220 Plus occasionally when I'm travelling, as it's lighter than my main laptop and I can't afford a light + performant one.

I'd never actually considered whether to run 32-bit or 64-bit OS on it, and just installed the 64-bit by habit.

Hop on the final i686 LTS-type release of either Ubuntu or CentOS, and you'll be fine for a long time. RHEL4 was updated for like a decade after it first launched.

I wonder if it's time for ubuntu and friends to seriously consider ia32?

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