Debian Trixie just released, and they dropped support for 32-bit x86. You can still run 32-bit software, but the OS must be running on amd64 (aka x86_64). Given the amount of distros which are Debian derivatives, there's probably not going to be a whole lot of systems around to run 32-bit Firefox on anyway.
this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
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It's a bit like a henn-egg problem: Debian does no longer support i386 as many projects have dropped their support. Projects drop their support, because there are only few systems with that architecture still in use...
From trixie, i386 is no longer supported as a regular architecture: there is no official kernel and no Debian installer for i386 systems. Fewer packages are available for i386 because many projects no longer support it. The architecture’s sole remaining purpose is to support running legacy code, for example, by way of multiarch or a chroot on a 64-bit (amd64) system.
https://www.debian.org/releases/trixie/release-notes/issues.en.html#reduced-support-for-i386
The i386 branch still exists, they dropped the installer.
You can upgrade a Debian 12 i386 system just fine to Debian 13
They did explicitly said that it's completely unsupported scenario. It's only for multiarch usage so even kernel isn't provided.
Users running i386 systems should not upgrade to trixie.
From https://www.debian.org/releases/trixie/release-notes/issues.en.html#reduced-support-for-i386
That depends on the specific CPU model used:
The i386 architecture is now only intended to be used on a 64-bit (amd64) CPU. Its instruction set requirements include SSE2 support, so it will not run successfully on most of the 32-bit CPU types that were supported by Debian 12.
Does that mean a smaller binary somehow? Less code? Eventually maybe?
It could mean faster development if they can spend that time on other things
More AI features. Hooray!
I mean some of them have been good. I actually really like the offline translation, for example. No more sending data to Google Translate servers is a genuine privacy win.
There's also been some better screen reader support integrated because of it, and my sister loves it, she just wants it to be expanded further.
Yes, there's also the LLM integration, which I'm... less enthused by, to say the least.
But at least it's optional and can be tied into local models if you wish. Plus there's the factor of new normie users testing out Firefox and going "it doesn't have a gpt bot? Pfft I'm going back to Chrome, Firefox is so far behind" to contend with. If the market decides it wants that feature, then Mozilla can't really ignore it.
It just means they won’t test 32 bit versions for bugs. The impact on binary size will be non-negligible.
So... the impact will be gligible?
Running 32-bit firefox is the only viable way to use my mini laptop that has only 2gb of ram :(
2gb ram with a window manager is enough for 4-5 tabs, however if it has a single core 32 bit cpu the modern internet is borderline unusable already. The memory capacity is a non issue in that case.
It's a 64-bit cpu. From personal experience, using 32 bit firefox, I can run a bit more tabs. It's enough for my use case, which is editing text documents and doing a bit of online research while in bed. I use it as an auxiliary device and sync my files using syncthing.
I'm looking for my old Nokia phone so I can throw it at you.
An old nokia!? Such scale of firepower is considered a war crime!
... and probably only has a 32-bit Intel Atom processor.
It's a bay trail series, it's 64-bit. I'm running mx linux and only installed the 32-bit firefox using multiarch, because the difference is pretty noticeable
If ever there was a justified case for sending a machine to the landfill, this one seems like a good candidate.
Why would you even want to use such a terrible machine? Is it nostalgia, ideals, masochism, a weird fetish, or something else? It definitely isn't money, as you can find something much better by going dumpster diving.
Whoa, take a deep breath, relax a bit. Modern life can get us constantly on our nerves, I understand it, but let's not take it out on each other.
About the machine, it's a very comfortable one to do writing work, and still works fine, so why not use it? Also, I'm from a "global south" country, and I can't afford to replace stuff when I still have something in working conditions. Dumpsters around here don't contain working electronic devices, by the way.
I didn't comment like complaining in a demanding way, like thinking that mozilla devs would have to maintain it for me. I just commented to express myself and show that there are real people still using 32-bit software around the world
I mean. "It's fun and still works for what I use it for" seems like a fine reason to me, just saying.
It depends. Spend enough time on bug trackers and forums for open source software, and you're bound to encounter hostile assholes shitting on devs when they make decisions to drop support for ancient hardware like the OP. It's particularly egregious IMO because they usually are willing and happy to use an ancient build of some proprietary software without complaining, but feel entitled to demand more from open source maintainers for some reason.
If you're doing it for your own fun, not making demands of devs/maintainers, and accepting that you're not going to get support for a lot of software, then it's all good.
It's pretty obvious they like the form factor, otherwise "mini laptop" would not have been mentioned explicitly.
...and I get it. I used to have an old Compaq Evo N200 ultraportable which was about the size of an iPad. It was awesome. Way too slow for modern web use, though.
Yeah cause it's not like there's a thousand tablets out there that you can pick up that are the exact same form factor.
Some people like their screen and keyboard being attached to each other.