Thanks to the huge amount of feedback this weekend from gamers, Ubuntu Studio, and the WINE community, we will change our plan and build selected 32-bit i386 packages for Ubuntu 19.10 and 20.04 LTS.
We will put in place a community process to determine which 32-bit packages are needed to support legacy software, and can add to that list post-release if we miss something that is needed.
Good move.
Yeah, coming right after Steam made their announcement, it was no shock to see an about face. Between the mass complaints and the loss of perhaps the biggest app on Ubuntu, you KNEW they would change their minds.
It’s funny how there’s massive outrage over the thought of not being able to run Windows software in Linux.
friedchicken,
Yes it is funny. It’s when you realize that it’s one of the main ways mainstream games are supported on linux that it becomes understandable. Most commercial developers just don’t target linux natively, but it’s probably the gaming segment specifically that has the most to loose.. So breaking the dependencies that are used to run wine/steam titles would end up marginalizing linux gaming even more than it already is.
I understand Canonical’s side too. It makes it’s money with business contracts, and I get the impression that many of these use cases are totally unprofitable and simply don’t make business sense to them. From a financial perspective, dropping things that don’t make you money can make sense even if it hurts some of your users. It’s a hard call for ubuntu. They sided with the users in the end, but I do think Canonical has been under increasing pressure to increase profitability.
It might go public one day…
https://www.zdnet.com/article/canonical-starts-ipo-path/
As a public company, more decisions would be made based on how they affect the bottom line.
You’ve peeled the onion back a little, past the funny outer layer and into the reality of it. Indeed you’re right that if they ever go public, their business decisions are going to be less forgiving to their non-revenue generating users. I don’t think they made the right call by backtracking to be honest. That they were so fast in reversing course shows a huge lack of leadership & lack of confidence. It’s a failure for them either way.
Wow, Canonical, super weak. A lack of a backbone. Stop being so soft. Total fail.