Discontinuing support for i686-linux in the Determinate Nix Installer

Here at Determinate Systems, our mission is to transform the software industry by bringing Nix to the enterprise. As a small team, we periodically evaluate how we spend our time and the impact that we have on our users. Today, we’re announcing that we plan to discontinue supporting i686-linux in the Determinate Nix Installer.

The decision to end support for i686-linux comes after carefully reviewing usage patterns and the resources required to maintain this system type. For i686-linux, we saw only one attempt to install Nix in the last three months—and that attempt failed. Given this essentially non-existent usage, the burden of continuing to support and test compatibility significantly outweighs the benefits.

Timeline

Determinate Nix Installer releases will continue to support i686-linux until August 15, 2024.

How will this affect users?

According to our data, it won’t.

But we understand that this change might impact i686-linux users we’re unaware of, as future updates to the Determinate Nix Installer will no longer support this architecture. We’re here to help. If you do need continued support for i686-linux, please reach out to us at hello@determinate.systems. Our goal is to ensure that your projects continue to run smoothly and we’re open to finding ways to accommodate your requirements. We would be happy to discuss your needs and explore potential solutions.

The Determinate Nix Installer will continue to support these systems for the foreseeable future:

• x86_64-linux
• aarch64-linux
• x86_64-darwin
• aarch64-darwin