Remove (most) 32-bit x86 builds from the download page #619

alexrp commented 2026年05月21日 08:21:03 +02:00

After some discussion in the team, there seems to be agreement on the following:

• x86-linux will be removed once Debian Bookworm long-term support ends on June 30, 2028.
• x86-windows will be removed once Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 support ends on January 12, 2027.
• x86-netbsd will stay for now since NetBSD's whole thing is running on toasters.

To be clear, this will not affect Zig's ability to compile for and run on those targets, nor will it affect zig-bootstrap; this is just about which binaries we provide on the download page.

After some discussion in the team, there seems to be agreement on the following: * `x86-linux` will be removed once Debian Bookworm long-term support ends on June 30, 2028. * `x86-windows` will be removed once Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 support ends on January 12, 2027. * `x86-netbsd` will stay for now since NetBSD's whole thing is running on toasters. To be clear, this will not affect Zig's ability to compile for and run on those targets, nor will it affect [zig-bootstrap](https://codeberg.org/ziglang/zig-bootstrap); this is just about which binaries we provide on the download page.

anthon commented 2026年05月29日 18:10:00 +02:00

The title of this issue gives a bit of the impression that items that are currently on the download page, are going to be removed and may no longer be downloadable.
That might be necessary to save some disc space ( 454Mb total 9 times x86-linux, and 746Mb total also 9 times x86-windows), or to keep the download page length manageable.

If possible I would suggest to only drop x86 for new versions that are being built (release versions and dev versions), if that is already the plan the title of this issue could be updated to "no longer offer new 32-bit x86 builds on the download page" to reflect that. If necessary for brevity we could cull the number of versions listed on the download page, but keep the downloadable files and keep them listed JSON version of that page), or have a shorter version (dev + last two releases) and complete version (everything, same as JSON).

Whatever the fate of the downloads/page, the same should probably apply to i386-linux ( 380Mb total in nine downloads) and i386-windows (409Mb in seven downloads).

The title of this issue gives a bit of the impression that items that are currently on the download page, are going to be removed and may no longer be downloadable. That might be necessary to save some disc space ( 454Mb total 9 times x86-linux, and 746Mb total also 9 times x86-windows), or to keep the download page length manageable. If possible I would suggest to only drop `x86` for new versions that are being built (release versions and dev versions), if that is already the plan the title of this issue could be updated to "no longer offer new 32-bit x86 builds on the download page" to reflect that. If necessary for brevity we could cull the number of versions listed on the download page, but keep the downloadable files and keep them listed JSON version of that page), or have a shorter version (dev + last two releases) and complete version (everything, same as JSON). Whatever the fate of the downloads/page, the same should probably apply to `i386-linux` ( 380Mb total in nine downloads) and `i386-windows` (409Mb in seven downloads).

alexrp commented 2026年05月29日 19:55:49 +02:00

@anthon wrote in #619 (comment):

If possible I would suggest to only drop x86 for new versions that are being built

This is the intent; we do not remove tagged release builds.

Dev builds are subject to deletion at any time, however.

@anthon wrote in https://codeberg.org/ziglang/ziglang.org/issues/619#issuecomment-16088102: > If possible I would suggest to only drop `x86` for new versions that are being built This is the intent; we do not remove tagged release builds. Dev builds are subject to deletion at any time, however.