Many Linux distributions are abandoning IA-32 support nowadays. So, I'm working on an article for https://itsfoss.com about free OS *still* supporting IA-32.

I successfully run OpenWRT Wi-Fi routers and ARM boards. And it is perfectly suitable to build a small web or file server.

Unfortunately, I can't find on the OpenWrt website a definitive answer to know if the IA-32 architecture is still supported. Both for legacy computers (i486/586/686) and for IA-32 SoC like the Intel Quark line.

Can anyone point me to the right source to know the definite support status of x86_32?

Thanks in advance,
- Sylvain

For x86_32, the OpenWrt source tree has a platform target 'x86' which has a subtarget 'legacy'. This target currently has a single profile 'Generic'.It supports x86_32 in general.

The target images have options for various root filesystem image formats, and also the option to build a VirtualBox or VMware image file directly.

However, I have no definitive answer on whether images compiled with this setup can execute on a specific i486, i586, i686 or Quark platform. This depends quite a lot on how the actual hardware. The images do integrate GRUB as a bootloader, and it seems to be version 2.02 so perhaps that will give you some ideas on where these images can boot.

Note that I am not a OpenWrt developer nor a person with any say on strategic decisions. The target/subtarget is there at the moment, but it may go away at some point just as well.

Thank you for your replay Antek!

Yes, it should still more or less work since the kernel maintains drivers for legacy x86 computers, and even for more modern x86 SoC like Intel Quark. That being said, I didn't find anything that lets me think the x86_32 is specially supported--not even tested--by the OpenWrt team. And the lack of answers here let me suppose few people in the community are actually (ab)using it on that hardware...

That being said, if someone has more infos about that, don't hesitate to let me know!