(By Trolleybusfreund)
Still one year ago, Ubuntu Mate was proposed as a light weight Ubuntu Flour which perfectly suits older Hardware.
So I tried 16.04 on my Tosthiba Tecra S1.
(The Tecra S1 is now 17 years old, but all components (inclusive 2GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, UXGA (1600*1200 pix) display, PAE (available by forcepae), Docking Station and so on … are still and with no problems available.)
I trying Ubuntu 16.04 on these machine, I was enthusiastic. Everything came to work perfectly, fast and with no problems. Not only the usual software, but also exotics like E-UAE (Amiga Emulation), Nokinux (contacts old Nokia cellphones), Moneyplex (special German banking software)
Same now with 18.04 !
So I did equip all of my family with those Tecra S1 machines (available for ~ 50 € each eg. on ebay) Doing so, may sister and her friend even abandoned and gave away newer 64 bit laptops (Lenovo + Asics, both Windows 10)
And now 32 bit supply ends ?? Although Mate has always been announced to be suitable for older hardware ?
NOT FAIR !
I only just now found out about it since I just got back into Ubuntu MATE a few days ago, and it is quite sad to see support for 32bit machines go since I was actually just planning on reviving a still very capable desktop with it. I guess I could, as someone suggested above, run Debian on it instead, but that just doesn’t have anywhere near the user experience.
It’s also sad to see that those who run 32bit out of concern for RAM usage have been completely ignored in this thread, and that unrealistic solutions (try finding a lightweight Linux distribution that works anywhere near as good as Ubuntu MATE generally does) are being offered rather than listening to those who have a very valid reason for running the version you’re dropping support for.
I am quite excited to see support for ARM devices improving, though. What I don’t quite understand, however, is the emphasis on the Raspberry Pi 3 in this article. With the recent rise of ARM-based laptops, will there be proper support for those as well? Because those laptops offer a great promise of a basic laptop that could give you up to 20 hours of battery life. If Ubuntu MATE would work properly with those, that would definitely influence my buying decision a lot.
Debian with the Mate desktop installed is quite similar to Ubuntu Mate. It may look somewhat different than UM, but you can change that quite easily. The software may be slightly older than UM 18.04 if you choose the stable branch, but it is rock solid.
I’m currently running the latest version of Raspberian, which is based on Debian Stretch, with the Mate desktop installed on my Raspberry Pi3. It works very well, and is extremely stable.
Debian and Mate would be a great combination for a ARM-based laptop in my opinion.
Hallo
You might find MX Linux useful. 
I’ve added that to my list of things to check out, thanks! From first glance it looks interesting.
Lubuntu will move ahead with 32bit images, if people are willing to test it. They want testers with actual 32bit hardware.
More information here: https://lubuntu.me/this-week-in-lubuntu-development-7/
First PowerPc, then i386, what next?
Raspberry Pi in a few years?
64 bit in a few years after the Pi 
There was a time when Linux users were said to be able to buy bargain computers forced to be upgraded by new Windows versions.
Now it’s true for the great Ubuntu MATE too!
Should I be one more guy to switch to Linux Mint ???
We can’t suport something we can’t test. We have a hand full of tester on ours best days and no one has a 32 bit pc for testing. Don’t forget this is a open source project and anyone can take and suport a 32 bit version of ubuntu mate. And don’t forget Mate has 3-4 devs that have jobs and a family. It’s easier to type on a keyboard about a problem and it’s harder to fix it.
I support.
We are going to 2019 and people using x86 computers ?
also, if you blame so much the developers , do you even know how programming works ?
Smashing my face into the keyboard and hope that works?
As a programmer I can assure that’s exactly how it works.
See I know it :))))))
I use Ubuntu Mate 32 bit in Virtual Box aside my 64 bit; to be clear, security updates will be available for ubuntu mate 18.04 32 bit until 2021. However, new operating system, such as ubuntu mate 20.04 32 bit will not be available?
I hate to be a dumb**s, but I want to make sure because I use virtualization for downloading files that might be a security risk.
Thanks.
Yes and yes. You will get security updates till '21. From 18.10 forward we will not have a 32 bit version available.
Thanks for your reply.
SO…if its inevitable that 32-bit ISO’s will not be auto built daily anymore…
Would someone kindly write a guide on how to build an ISO, with the OEM install option, by the time 20.04 gets released?
Or just get the build bot to do it every time there is a point release (20.04, 20.04.1 etc)
I’ve looked a little into it, but tools like remastersys don’t seem to produce the same result as an ‘official’ ISO.
Also, though its probably nit-picking - it may be true for most laptops and desktops but I find it hard to believe the last 32-bit machine shipped end of 2008. Surely there’s a netbook or tablet from 2012 or so still using the 32bit ISA??
MS seems to have no plans to drop 32bit, why should a well known Linux distro? This makes it hard to sell Linux as a more efficient, longer-life solution.
If we’re not careful 32bit users will end up in the cold, like PowerPC 32bit users are now (and Alpha users before that, the architecture is virtually dead now). Only difference is there is a hell of a lot of high-end P4s, Gen 1 Atoms and Core Duos out there than PowerMacs.
Also…embedded
Also… WWDD ?
(What Would Debian Do?)
Its still mainstream for them, theres been no movement towards kicking it into the long grass of Debian Ports (as recently happened with PowerPC)
I’ll be a tester for 32bit if someone admits me to that circle! 21yrs Linux experience and access to older hardware talking here…
If you want to build your own ISO then you need to look into live-build. Debian have some excellent documentation on this. Ubuntu’s live-build package does things slightly differently, but most of debian’s documentation still applies. The scripts Ubuntu uses is in the livecd-rootfs package. You copy the auto folder from this package to your home folder and then run the live build commands on it.
Have a look at the scripts in Status of Ubuntu MATE 18.04 for Raspberry Pi 3 B & B+? . They are for the raspberry pi so don’t actually produce an ISO, but if you take the build-ISO script, change the architecture to i386 and remove other pi bits then after you run it then you should get an ISO file. This is essentially how official Ubuntu ISOs are produced, except Ubuntu’s automated build scripts do other stuff such as adding efi and changing the hash files etc (the complete-ISO file does some of this, except again it doesn’t produce an actual ISO…).
Kde neon have documented some of this too.