Ubuntu considering dropping 32-bit libraries

[Josh DuBois]

A Slashdot post yesterday pointed to a worrying thread on the Ubuntu 
mailing list archive about dropping 32-bit support from Ubuntu.  The 
Ubuntu thread is here:

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2016-June/039420.html

It is not 100% clear to me what they are considering - they mention 
dropping 32-bit .isos and also ceasing to support users who want to run 
32-bit apps (at least unless the app is packaged in a container 
alongside all of the necessary libraries).  Their thought is to do this 
in a couple of years, with Ubuntu 18.10:

18.10+:
* Stop providing i386 port
* Run legacy i386 only application in snaps / containers / virtual machines

Disturbingly, no one on the Ubuntu thread ever mentions Wine. Oddly 
there is discussion about IoT applications which might need 32-bit 
libraries and a proposal to continue building select libs for those 
things, but maybe minus the graphics stack :-(.  In the Slashdot post 
someone at least mentions Wine, but the little discussion that prompted 
was seemingly in error until Francois came along to correct them.

I think Wine should be aware of the issue and make some noise about it 
before distros grow attached to the idea of ceasing to build 32-bit 
libraries.  I will probably post to the Ubuntu thread to at least 
mention Wine, unless someone here is involved in that community and 
thinks they can do a better job.  The more distros hear from the Wine 
community about the value of 32-bit libraries, the better.  It might be 
that they will conclude on their own that users need them to continue 
building 32-bit libraries, but I don't know that we can trust distros 
not to break things if we don't speak up.