Re: [RFC PATCH] docs/about/deprecated: Deprecate 32-bit host systems

[Thomas Huth]

On 17/02/2023 17.38, Paolo Bonzini wrote:
> On 2/17/23 11:47, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:
> > On Fri, Feb 17, 2023 at 11:36:41AM +0100, Markus Armbruster wrote:
> > > I feel the discussion petered out without a conclusion.
> > >
> > > I don't think letting the status quo win by inertia is a good outcome
> > > here.
> > >
> > > Which 32-bit hosts are still useful, and why?
> >
> > Which 32-bit hosts does Linux still provide KVM  support for.
>
> All except ARM: MIPS, x86, PPC and RISC-V.
>
> I would like to remove x86, but encountered some objections.

So if I got that right:


https://lore.kernel.org/all/b8fa9561295bb6af2b7fcaa8125c6a3b89b305c7.camel@redhat.com/

... the objection is mainly that some kernel developers want to keep the 
code around for easier testing of nested 32-bit guests L1 hypervisors.

If that's the only use case that is still around for the 32-bit KVM x86 
kernel code, I guess it should also be fine to use older versions of QEMU in 
those L1 hypervisor guests (assuming you have to use an older 32-bit Linux 
distro for this anyway).

So unless I got that wrong, there is really nobody around anymore who needs 
an *upstream* QEMU for running 32-bit x86 KVM hosts, is there?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we can really deprecated at 
least qemu-system-i386 and qemu-system-arm now, can't we?

 Thanks,
  Thomas