lubuntu-desktop team mailing list archive

[Jonathan Marsden <jmarsden@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 11/18/2011 04:45 PM, Phill Whiteside wrote:

> So there is no need to support the dropping of chip sets at 10.04,
> and none of at the next release?


The changes in 10.10 that cause it to be unusable on some CPUs are
already made.  I am unclear which exact CPU models can run 10.10 and
11.04 and 11.10 default Ubuntu kernels, but which lack PAE.

I think that there are *very* few such CPUs out there in working general
purpose desktop or laptop computers (not embedded stuff like Soekris and
WRAP boards in routers etc.)... how many such machines do you own?  How
many people can you name who use such CPUs to run Lubuntu today, as
their primary PC to do useful computing, not just for testing?

> If  Lubuntu cannot support old hardware, as julien has argued &
> pleaded about.... * What is the point of Lubuntu? *


The more nuanced question is how old, and which old hardware, it is
important for Lubuntu to continue to support.  The choice is not between
"all old hardware" and "no old hardware at all".  So the melodrama does
not really help here.

We already told the community we would support Lubuntu 10.04 as an LTS,
so we should keep that commitment (though I don't think we are doing a
very good job of it, to be honest!).  But we made a commitment, so we
should do what we can to honour it.  That is not in question here.

The current issue then becomes a (much narrower, to my mind) one:

  Is it worth fighting the proposed change requiring PAE capability
  in default Ubuntu i386 kernels, and do we have the resources to do so?

Based on my current understanding of which CPUs can run Oneiric default
kernels, but cannot support PAE, I don't think it is worth fighting this
one.  I think there are far more working usable PII and PIII machines
with 128MB or 256MB of RAM that Lubuntu can be useful on, and that are
worth our time and attention, than there are general purpose machines
with Via C3 or Geode LX processors in that people want to run Lubuntu on.

That's just my opinion.  Asking me to "please think" is unlikely to
change it :)  If you have more specific information about which exact
CPUs are affected, and how many Lubuntu users own and use such machines,
please share it.  That information *might* change it.

Jonathan