28 Sep
2010
28 Sep
'10
12:20 a.m.
On Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:57:46 -1000
Joel Roth <joelz(a)pobox.com> wrote:
On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 10:30:12PM +0200, Fritz
Meissner wrote:
64 bit x86 architecture DOESN'T use 64 bit integers. For those of you that undestand
the following code, try to compile a program that has int x = new int; That will warn you
about asigning 64bit pointer to a 32bit integer (if it doesn't warn you about asigning
pointer to non-pointer variable). Another thing, I use 64bit Gentoo, and do my share of
audio production (recording demos of my band, nothing fancy). I haven't found any
32bit app that I miss so far (now that flash is working again). Can you tell us which
32bit programs you need?
On 27 September 2010 22:26, Josh Lawrence
<hardbop200(a)gmail.com> wrote:
One advantage to 64-bit machines is that there are more
CPU registers available in 64-bit mode, so some processing
goes faster, and more addressable memory.
That may be reason enough to run a 64-bit kernel while
keeping a 32-bit userland (libraries, applications, etc.)
Which some (including myself) do.
The advantage of 32-bit software is a smaller
memory footprint (e.g. 32 bits to represent an
integer instead of 64). There is a much wider software
availability, and fewer compatibility issues.
Although many say "64-bit is well established, no need
to worry about compatibility", I've had a few run ins.
At one point, I was maintaining two parallel Debian systems,
one 32-bit and one 64-bit, to track down such issues.
Some disadvantages to mixed systems, from the amd64 faq
at http://alioth.debian.org/docman/view.php/30192/21/debian-amd64-howto.html
Q: I want to run i386 userland with a 64bit Linux kernel
A: Running 32bit userland with a 64bit kernel is recommended
only for servers needing the absolute stability of 10 years
of 32bit debian, but without the memory limitations the IA32
architecture bears, for example a 64bit mysql server on a
system with 8GB or 16GB memory.
Running the mixed setup on a workstation is not recommended,
because iptables, the XFS filesystem, non-free NVidia and
ATI binary drivers do currently not support it.
Iptables *does* appear to work for me in mixed environment,
at least the user interface part.
Cheers,
Joel
Hi everyone,
I'm late to the party when it comes to 64-bit machines, so apologies
in advance if I am asking something that should be obvious...
I recently purchased a 64 bit machine and like it a lot, but I've
noticed that some software that is usually available on a 32 bit
machine isn't available in the 64 bit repos that I am using. Can I
install the 32 bit version of my distro (Debian) on my 64 bit machine?
I'm assuming that would give me access to all 32 bit software. It
would also be a performance hit, correct?
Yes, you can install the 32 bit version. From what I have heard, the
performance difference is not significant, but the major benefit of 64
bit is being able to address more than 4 GB of memory, which is the
limit of what a 32 bit OS can use. Fritz