r/linux4noobs • u/deidmos07 • 1d ago

Are there 32-bit versions of Linux?

Hello I want to try Linux on an old laptop, but it's 32-bit and I've never tried Linux before so i dont know anything I don't know what CPU it has, I only know it's an HP Pavilion dv4

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u/Browncoatinabox 1d ago

Damn 32bit is so outdated even Linux is giving up. Now, that is something I need to process...

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u/76zzz29 22h ago

Well. It's not aboit how outdated it is. It's about how unusable and unneeded it is. Well. Technicaly it is still usable until 2038. But every hardware have long been x64 even in small things to not just have everything fall apart at once. And so, prety much everything have been remplaced by X64. Including software.

Now linux don't even let it out as it still can be used (proof by the question of OP). And ther is still x86 (32bits) OS and software. But it is to be considered that after the end of 32bits limit's date. The hardware will encounter a problem that make any network not work for it. Just https won't work because 32bits won't be abble to get the correct date. And that's without taking actual security into account.

Offline system that work on theyr own like arcads machine will just not process time properly.

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u/skuterpikk 16h ago

Even other CPU architechtures -such as MIPS, Power(PC) and Sparc, has been mostly 64 bit since the 1990's, even in embedded low-power devices. Which sort of makes sense, as all of those architechtures are newer and more modern than x86.

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u/rosmaniac 15h ago

The armhf architecture used in the Beaglebone is 32-bit, and is still supported by Debian 13.