[EXTERNAL] Re: Proposed JEP - Deprecate the Windows x86-32 Port

[George Adams]

I absolutely agree with all your comments. To the point of deprecating the Linux x86 port at the same time, I think this is a great idea but felt it would be most appropriate for this to be raised in a separate JEP. When I spoke to several vendors recently they all felt that it was the right time to do this but I’d rather have someone else step forward and propose the Linux x86 deprecation separately.
________________________________
From: Alan Bateman <Alan.Bateman at oracle.com>
Sent: 27 February 2023 19:15
To: George Adams <George.Adams at microsoft.com>; jdk-dev at openjdk.java.net <jdk-dev at openjdk.java.net>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Proposed JEP - Deprecate the Windows x86-32 Port



On 27/02/2023 11:04, George Adams wrote:

Hi all,



I’ve been asked to socialize my proposed JEP to deprecate the Windows x86-32 port on this mailing list.



A link to the draft JEP can be found here: https://bugs.openjdk.org/browse/JDK-8303167<https://nam06.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbugs.openjdk.org%2Fbrowse%2FJDK-8303167&data=05%7C01%7CGeorge.Adams%40microsoft.com%7C47da7314d0eb4b35565c08db18f70a76%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C638131221569762154%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Cn8MKpwdseIHN%2Bbo0f2la8QLmOx51Xv9r7wn7e9AjNc%3D&reserved=0>



In summary, the main motivation for this JEP is that there is currently no implementation of JEP 436 (Virtual Threads)<https://nam06.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fopenjdk.org%2Fjeps%2F436&data=05%7C01%7CGeorge.Adams%40microsoft.com%7C47da7314d0eb4b35565c08db18f70a76%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C638131221569918383%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RodxRRngviyDQagvLObc8brMW0obrQenU2uq4%2BS7A04%3D&reserved=0> for 32-bit platforms and without a vendor stepping forward to implement this it's unlikely that OpenJDK will be able to continue supporting 32-bit architectures. Another motivation is that Windows 10 (the last Windows operating system to support a 32-bit installation) will reach EOL on October 14, 20251.

When you build JDK 19+ to target windows-x86 then it will use an alternative implementation of virtual thread that creates a kernel thread for each virtual thread. So it doesn't scale but it's good enough for Zero and ports that are a bit behind.

That said, it's a good topic to bring up. I don't expect dropping windows-x86 will remove the burden of keeping the x86_32 port working, to do that would require dropping linux-x86 too. So maybe the discussion should be broadened to ask if the time is approaching to remove the x86_32 port? At one point, one of the arguments to keep linux-x86 working was reconditioning older computers but I don't know if this is still the case. I see a mail to jdk-dev from Mark Yagnatinsky that talks about JNI libs or drivers that are 32-bit only. There isn't much context but it would be surprising for something that is actively maintained to not have a 64-bit build in 2023. He also mentions limiting resources but that may be a case where an OS container should be used. It might be that you expand the Motivation in draft JEP to cover these points.

-Alan

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