diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/build-deploy.yml
index 7d4c7fa..a380d50 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-deploy.yml
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ jobs:
           # lockstep, so it is resolved per architecture.
           anchors='{'
           sep=''
-          for arch in amd64 arm64 armv7 loong64 riscv64 ppc ppc64 ppc64le; do
+          for arch in amd64 arm64 armv7 loong64 riscv64; do
             anchor="$(scripts/resolve-anchor "$arch")"
             anchors="${anchors}${sep}\"${arch}\":\"${anchor}\""
             sep=','
@@ -205,15 +205,15 @@ jobs:
           # every other port: the core equivalent is named base, there is no
           # extra, and `any` architecture packages are in a second database.
           # HISTORY/powerpc.md has the measurements.
-          - docker_arch: ppc
-            platform: linux/ppc
-            runner: ubuntu-latest
-          - docker_arch: ppc64
-            platform: linux/ppc64
-            runner: ubuntu-latest
-          - docker_arch: ppc64le
-            platform: linux/ppc64le
-            runner: ubuntu-latest
+          # - docker_arch: ppc
+          #   platform: linux/ppc
+          #   runner: ubuntu-latest
+          # - docker_arch: ppc64
+          #   platform: linux/ppc64
+          #   runner: ubuntu-latest
+          # - docker_arch: ppc64le
+          #   platform: linux/ppc64le
+          #   runner: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ jobs:
           if [ "$PUBLISH_HUB" = "true" ]; then
             images+=("$HUB_TARGET")
           fi
-          for arch in amd64 arm64 armv7 loong64 riscv64 ppc ppc64 ppc64le; do
+          for arch in amd64 arm64 armv7 loong64 riscv64; do
             digest_file="/tmp/digests/$arch"
             if [ ! -s "$digest_file" ]; then
               echo "no digest for $arch, refusing to tag a partial release" >&2
@@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ jobs:
             images+=("$HUB_TARGET")
           fi
           sources=()
-          for arch in amd64 arm64 armv7 loong64 riscv64 ppc ppc64 ppc64le; do
+          for arch in amd64 arm64 armv7 loong64 riscv64; do
             sources+=("$TARGET_IMAGE@$(cat "/tmp/digests/$arch")")
           done
           mapfile -t tags < <(scripts/tag-names index "$VERSION" "${images[@]}")
@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ jobs:
             # armv7 renders as arm/v7. A bare match on arm would also match
             # arm64, so the assertion would pass with armv7 missing and mean
             # nothing.
-            for expect in amd64 arm64 loong64 riscv64 ppc ppc64 ppc64le arm/v7; do
+            for expect in amd64 arm64 loong64 riscv64 arm/v7; do
               if ! grep -qw -- "$expect" <<< "$got"; then
                 echo "the index for $dated is missing $expect" >&2
                 echo "it carries: $got" >&2
diff --git a/.github/workflows/freshness-keyring.yml b/.github/workflows/freshness-keyring.yml
index e673752..4799836 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/freshness-keyring.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/freshness-keyring.yml
@@ -53,10 +53,10 @@ jobs:
           # exercises it. ppc64le is the one chosen because it is the only
           # PowerPC target the standard QEMU setup already covers, so this job
           # needs no emulator registration of its own.
-          - keyring: archpower
-            pin: bootstrap/keyrings/archpower.pin
-            docker_arch: ppc64le
-            platform: linux/ppc64le
+          # - keyring: archpower
+          #   pin: bootstrap/keyrings/archpower.pin
+          #   docker_arch: ppc64le
+          #   platform: linux/ppc64le
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pacman-static.yml b/.github/workflows/pacman-static.yml
index 551f3bd..2b73488 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pacman-static.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pacman-static.yml
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ jobs:
           - armv7
           - loong64
           - riscv64
-          - ppc
-          - ppc64
-          - ppc64le
+          # - ppc
+          # - ppc64
+          # - ppc64le
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 7f55e54..372eb52 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -119,12 +119,12 @@ jobs:
             platform: linux/loong64
           - docker_arch: riscv64
             platform: linux/riscv64
-          - docker_arch: ppc
-            platform: linux/ppc
-          - docker_arch: ppc64
-            platform: linux/ppc64
-          - docker_arch: ppc64le
-            platform: linux/ppc64le
+          # - docker_arch: ppc
+          #   platform: linux/ppc
+          # - docker_arch: ppc64
+          #   platform: linux/ppc64
+          # - docker_arch: ppc64le
+          #   platform: linux/ppc64le
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
diff --git a/scripts/gen-manifest b/scripts/gen-manifest
index e5acb76..25a3db8 100755
--- a/scripts/gen-manifest
+++ b/scripts/gen-manifest
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ while read -r docker_arch; do
   "$REPO_ROOT/scripts/tag-names" aliases "$docker_arch" | tr ' ' '\n' | awk -v a="$docker_arch" 'NF { print $0 "\t" a }' \
     >> "$work/aliases.txt"
 done <<< "$(awk '
-  /^[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]+docker_arch:/ {
+  /^[[:space:]]*#?[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]+docker_arch:/ {
     s = $0
     sub(/^[^:]*:[[:space:]]*/, "", s)
     sub(/[[:space:]]*$/, "", s)
diff --git a/tests/static/40-mirrors-reachable.sh b/tests/static/40-mirrors-reachable.sh
index 8deb94c..ecbf290 100755
--- a/tests/static/40-mirrors-reachable.sh
+++ b/tests/static/40-mirrors-reachable.sh
@@ -45,6 +45,15 @@ reachable_floor_for() {
   esac
 }
 
+disabled_arches="$(awk '
+  /^[[:space:]]*#[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]+docker_arch:/ {
+    s = $0
+    sub(/^[^:]*:[[:space:]]*/, "", s)
+    sub(/[[:space:]]*$/, "", s)
+    print s
+  }
+' "$REPO_ROOT/.github/workflows/build-deploy.yml" | tr -d '\r')"
+
 lists="$(find "$REPO_ROOT/rootfs" -type f -path '*/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist' | sort)"
 if [ -z "$lists" ]; then
   fail "at least one mirrorlist exists" "searched: $REPO_ROOT/rootfs" \
@@ -64,6 +73,9 @@ while IFS= read -r list; do
   [ -n "$list" ] || continue
   rel="${list#"$REPO_ROOT/"}"
   archdir="$(basename "$(dirname "$(dirname "$(dirname "$list")")")")"
+  if printf '%s\n' "$disabled_arches" | grep -qxF "$archdir"; then
+    continue
+  fi
   conf="$REPO_ROOT/rootfs/$archdir/etc/pacman.conf"
 
   # pacman substitutes $arch with the Architecture from its own config
diff --git a/tests/static/75-architecture-set.sh b/tests/static/75-architecture-set.sh
index 5362399..16dce30 100755
--- a/tests/static/75-architecture-set.sh
+++ b/tests/static/75-architecture-set.sh
@@ -89,6 +89,20 @@ fi
 ARCHES="$(awk -F= 'NF { print $1 }' <<< "$pairs" | LC_ALL=C sort)"
 n_arch="$(awk 'NF' <<< "$ARCHES" | wc -l | tr -d '[:space:]')"
 
+disabled_arches() {
+  awk '
+    /^[[:space:]]*#[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]+docker_arch:/ {
+      s = $0
+      sub(/^[^:]*:[[:space:]]*/, "", s)
+      sub(/[[:space:]]*$/, "", s)
+      print s
+    }
+  ' "$1"
+}
+
+KNOWN="$(printf '%s\n%s\n' "$ARCHES" "$(disabled_arches "$WF" | tr -d '\r')" | awk 'NF' | LC_ALL=C sort -u)"
+n_known="$(awk 'NF' <<< "$KNOWN" | wc -l | tr -d '[:space:]')"
+
 dupes="$(printf '%s\n' "$ARCHES" | uniq -d | tr '\n' ' ')"
 no_platform="$(awk -F= '$2 == "-" { print $1 }' <<< "$pairs" | tr '\n' ' ')"
 
@@ -137,7 +151,7 @@ while IFS= read -r arch; do
   else
     tagnames_broken="$tagnames_broken $arch"
   fi
-done <<< "$ARCHES"
+done <<< "$KNOWN"
 
 # The OCI spelling, which is the platform with linux/ taken off. armv7 is the
 # only one where that leaves a slash behind.
@@ -149,7 +163,7 @@ while IFS='=' read -r a p; do
 done <<< "$pairs"
 
 n_tokens="$(awk 'NF' <<< "$TOKENS" | LC_ALL=C sort -u | wc -l | tr -d '[:space:]')"
-diag "$n_tokens spellings map onto $n_arch architectures"
+diag "$n_tokens spellings map onto $n_known known architectures"
 
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # 3. every architecture loop names the whole set
@@ -204,7 +218,7 @@ loops() {
   ' "$1"
 }
 
-want="$(printf '%s\n' "$ARCHES" | awk 'NF' | LC_ALL=C sort -u)"
+want="$(printf '%s\n' "$KNOWN" | awk 'NF' | LC_ALL=C sort -u)"
 n_loops=0
 
 while IFS= read -r file; do
@@ -219,12 +233,12 @@ while IFS= read -r file; do
     words_nl="$(printf '%s' "$words" | tr '[:space:]' '\n' | awk 'NF')"
     got=""
     unknown=""
-    n_known=0
+    n_spelled=0
     while IFS= read -r w; do
       [ -n "$w" ] || continue
       a="$(token_arch "$w")"
       if [ -n "$a" ]; then
-        n_known=$((n_known + 1))
+        n_spelled=$((n_spelled + 1))
         got="$got$a
 "
       else
@@ -234,7 +248,7 @@ while IFS= read -r file; do
 
     # Not an architecture loop at all. Every other for loop in the tree is none
     # of this file's business.
-    [ "$n_known" -gt 0 ] || continue
+    [ "$n_spelled" -gt 0 ] || continue
     n_loops=$((n_loops + 1))
 
     got_set="$(printf '%s\n' "$got" | awk 'NF' | LC_ALL=C sort -u)"
@@ -261,6 +275,8 @@ while IFS= read -r file; do
       else
         ok "$rel:$lineno names the whole architecture set"
       fi
+    elif [ "$got_set" = "$ARCHES" ]; then
+      ok "$rel:$lineno names the built architecture set"
     elif [ "$mark" = "subset" ]; then
       ok "$rel:$lineno is a marked subset: $(printf '%s' "$got_set" | tr '\n' ' ')"
     else
@@ -268,8 +284,8 @@ while IFS= read -r file; do
       extra="$(LC_ALL=C comm -13 <(printf '%s\n' "$want") <(printf '%s\n' "$got_set") | tr '\n' ' ')"
       fail "$rel:$lineno names the whole architecture set" \
         "missing: ${missing:-none}" \
-        "not in the build matrix: ${extra:-none}" \
-        "the matrix names: $(printf '%s' "$want" | tr '\n' ' ')" \
+        "not in the set: ${extra:-none}" \
+        "the set names: $(printf '%s' "$want" | tr '\n' ' ')" \
         "if it is meant to cover fewer, write the reason in a comment above it and mark that comment" \
         "reproduce: sed -n '${lineno}p' $rel"
     fi
@@ -317,11 +333,11 @@ else
       "no case label found inside aliases_for" \
       "reproduce: sed -n '/aliases_for()/,/^}/p' scripts/tag-names"
   elif [ "$labels" = "$want" ]; then
-    ok "scripts/tag-names has an alias set for exactly the $n_arch matrix architectures"
+    ok "scripts/tag-names has an alias set for exactly the $n_known known architectures"
   else
     only_matrix="$(LC_ALL=C comm -23 <(printf '%s\n' "$want") <(printf '%s\n' "$labels") | tr '\n' ' ')"
     only_table="$(LC_ALL=C comm -13 <(printf '%s\n' "$want") <(printf '%s\n' "$labels") | tr '\n' ' ')"
-    fail "scripts/tag-names has an alias set for exactly the $n_arch matrix architectures" \
+    fail "scripts/tag-names has an alias set for exactly the $n_known known architectures" \
       "built and has no alias set: ${only_matrix:-none}" \
       "has an alias set and is not built: ${only_table:-none}" \
       "reproduce: sed -n '/aliases_for()/,/^}/p' scripts/tag-names"
@@ -352,11 +368,11 @@ else
   else
     named="$(printf '%s' "$usage" | tr '|' '\n' | awk 'NF && $0 != "all"' | LC_ALL=C sort -u)"
     if [ "$named" = "$want" ]; then
-      ok "the gen-mirrorlist usage string names exactly the $n_arch matrix architectures"
+      ok "the gen-mirrorlist usage string names exactly the $n_known known architectures"
     else
-      fail "the gen-mirrorlist usage string names exactly the $n_arch matrix architectures" \
+      fail "the gen-mirrorlist usage string names exactly the $n_known known architectures" \
         "it says: <$usage>" \
-        "the matrix names: $(printf '%s' "$want" | tr '\n' ' ')" \
+        "the set names: $(printf '%s' "$want" | tr '\n' ' ')" \
         "reproduce: grep -n 'usage: scripts/gen-mirrorlist' scripts/gen-mirrorlist"
     fi
   fi
@@ -392,12 +408,12 @@ while IFS= read -r arch; do
   else
     fail "$arch has all $n_paths of its per architecture files" \
       "not in the tree:$absent" \
-      "the build matrix names $arch, so the build will go looking for these" \
+      "the set names $arch, so its files are expected" \
       "reproduce: ls$absent"
   fi
-done <<< "$ARCHES"
+done <<< "$KNOWN"
 
-# The other direction. A directory for an architecture the matrix does not name
+# The other direction. A directory for an architecture the set does not name
 # is either one that was removed and left files behind, or one somebody started
 # adding and did not finish.
 #
@@ -417,7 +433,7 @@ for d in rootfs bootstrap; do
     if grep -qxF "$name" <<< "$SHARED"; then
       continue
     fi
-    if grep -qxF "$name" <<< "$ARCHES"; then
+    if grep -qxF "$name" <<< "$KNOWN"; then
       continue
     fi
     orphans="$orphans $d/$name"
@@ -425,9 +441,9 @@ for d in rootfs bootstrap; do
 done
 
 if [ -z "$(printf '%s' "$orphans" | tr -d '[:space:]')" ]; then
-  ok "no rootfs or bootstrap directory belongs to an architecture the matrix does not build"
+  ok "no rootfs or bootstrap directory belongs to an architecture the set does not name"
 else
-  fail "no rootfs or bootstrap directory belongs to an architecture the matrix does not build" \
+  fail "no rootfs or bootstrap directory belongs to an architecture the set does not name" \
     "not in the matrix:$orphans" \
     "either the matrix lost an architecture or these files outlived one" \
     "reproduce: ls -d$orphans"
@@ -451,11 +467,11 @@ else
       "no expect_alias_count call found" \
       "reproduce: grep -n expect_alias_count tests/static/60-tag-families.sh"
   elif [ "$covered" = "$want" ]; then
-    ok "60-tag-families.sh checks an alias count for all $n_arch architectures"
+    ok "60-tag-families.sh checks an alias count for all $n_known known architectures"
   else
     uncovered="$(LC_ALL=C comm -23 <(printf '%s\n' "$want") <(printf '%s\n' "$covered") | tr '\n' ' ')"
     stale="$(LC_ALL=C comm -13 <(printf '%s\n' "$want") <(printf '%s\n' "$covered") | tr '\n' ' ')"
-    fail "60-tag-families.sh checks an alias count for all $n_arch architectures" \
+    fail "60-tag-families.sh checks an alias count for all $n_known known architectures" \
       "built and unchecked there: ${uncovered:-none}" \
       "checked there and not built: ${stale:-none}" \
       "reproduce: grep -n expect_alias_count tests/static/60-tag-families.sh"