For completeness here are some of my comments from the G+ topic:
There is a proposal being discussed on the Ubuntu Development mailing list to determine if/when Ubuntu Desktop will drop i386 iso images. Flavours, such as Ubuntu MATE, have the option to continue making i386 iso images although there are some security considerations in doing so.
This is a complex discussion, but what I’m interested to know is do any of you absolutely require i386 iso images for your hardware? I’d also like to hear from @fixitleeds and +Ken Starks to understand how the potential removal of i386 images might affect your organisations.
In answer to some of your comments, my daughter has a Dell Mini 9 Atom netbook, it is 32bit capable only. I think netbooks are in the category of computers sold fairly recently that are still very usable, certainly we’ve probably all seen +Helam Sirrine post his videos on YouTube demonstrating how his old netbook received a new lease of life running Ubuntu MATE.
Ubuntu are not going to remove the i386 deb files from the archive, many legacy applications (and some not legacy, such as Steam) require multiarch. The proposal here is i386 Ubuntu Desktop (proper Ubuntu) may drop i386 support at some point. While some i386 server and cloud images will continue to be made available, they may become “unofficial” with no guarantee of support. This is not decided, just being discussed.
The main concern for me is how often organisations, such as @fixitleeds and +Reglue recieve 32bit PC hardware donations? How might this decision affect them and the families and organisations they support who simply don’t have $100 to spend on a computer.
I have some statistics on the Ubuntu MATE downloads and the i386 downloads are a tiny percentage when compared to amd64 and armhf (Raspberry Pi). That said, the number of blind and visually impaired individuals using Ubuntu MATE is also extremely small but I continue to invest the effort to ensure Ubuntu MATE is highly accessible. Likewise I would be prepared to continue supporting i386 while there is a socially valuable reason to do so.
With all that said, if the Ubuntu Security team determine that maintaining the security profile of i386 is not possible, with particular regard to browsers, then that would absolutely influence my thinking. I’m simply not prepared to release a desktop operating system that has inadequate security coverage. One of the benefits of being an official Ubuntu flavour is having access to the additional expertise the various Ubuntu teams provide, such as access to the security team.
So if Ubuntu MATE does feel the need to drop i386 support, then security concerns will likely be the main reason for doing so. But this discussion is still developing and no firm decisions have been taken yet.
Many people have mentioned that Mint could pick up the i386 mantle. Lets be very clear, the only reason Ubuntu flavours such as Ubuntu MATE and Lubuntu would drop i386 images is if there is clear security rationale for doing so. Therefore, if Mint do continue with i386 after Ubuntu and other flavours drop it, consider this; you’ll be running a known vulnerable operating system.