Linux and BSD ran for a long time on 32bit systems. 4GB of memory is an ocean in my mind. Those systems should be able to compile their own programs and tools.
On a related note, we will eventually be running development tools on microcontrollers. Not that little 16bit parts will run the tools, but that 16bit parts are going away. In price sensitive areas this will not happen, but for things with a larger budget why not run the tools right on the target? If your controller is an RPi why not use it for development?
> the 80386 instruction set, programming model, and binary encodings are still the common denominator for all 32-bit x86 processors, which is termed the i386-architecture, x86, or IA-32, depending on context.
On a related note, we will eventually be running development tools on microcontrollers. Not that little 16bit parts will run the tools, but that 16bit parts are going away. In price sensitive areas this will not happen, but for things with a larger budget why not run the tools right on the target? If your controller is an RPi why not use it for development?