[cfarm-users] What are people testing 32-bit builds on?

[Segher Boessenkool]

On Thu, May 14, 2026 at 07:12:33PM +0100, Jonathan Wakely via cfarm-users wrote:
> On Thu, 14 May 2026 at 17:51, Peter Gutmann via cfarm-users
> <cfarm-users at lists.tetaneutral.net> wrote:
> >
> > This is more of a general question to the studio audience, but with cfarm26/26
> > being the last 32-bit machines (AFAIK) what are people using to test 32-bit
> > builds on?  I've been looking at possible Y2038 implications now that it's
> > getting closer, with Linux (so cfarm26/27) the problem is sidestepped due to
> > the use of a 64-bit time_t
> 
> By default time_t is still 32-bit on i686 Linux, although recent
> versions of Glibc have a macro to enable 64-bit time_t, and the kernel
> uses a 64-bit type internally.

Since 2017 POSIX has required a 64-bit time_t .  So any near recent GCC
will also require it.

> > but for other 32-bit OSes it presumably won't be.
> > What are people testing 32-bit non-Linux+x86 builds on?
> 
> g++ -m32

Yup.  That's also what we do to test powerpc-linux userland on
powerpc64-linux .  Works fine on any biarch!

I also have an emulator that allows to emulate any version of the arch
on any endianness and word size (well, as long as you choose either 32
or 64).  This is super useful!  So I actually test powerpcle-linux (i.e.
32-bit wrong-endian) even though no one else has tried to use it for at
least twenty years now, heh.  But it does keep our compiler code more
clean :-)


Segher