[wellylug] 64bit Linux

[Brent Wood]

> > I do recall something about ensuring that the apps will run on a
> > 64-bit processor if you try to run the OS in 64-bit mode.  If they're
> > built strictly for 32-bit then they could have a problem.  IIRC, this
> > is the case on sparc.
> 
> >From my limited reading, the 32 bit apps require 32bit versions of the
> libraries,  other than that they will quite happily run un the 64bit
> processor in 64bit mode.

The 64bit version of the OS & cpu can run 32bit apps, but the apps won't
necessarily get the benefit of the full A64 feature set. They will still be
pretty quick tho :-)

You also need 64 bit (compatible) drivers for hardware. Graphics seem OK now,
as do most network drivers (they both had problems initially), but SATA support
for some chipsets is still pretty dysfunctional.

SuSE is at their second A64 release, with 9.2 Pro just out, Mandrake 64bit
trails their 32bit release cycle (which is not necessarily a bad thing), but
their third A64 release, v10.1 beta is available, & seems pretty stable. I
think Mandrake were a bit premature releasing 64bit v9.2 coz IMHO that was a
real dog. (I have a copy if anyone wants to discover some of the issues porting
to 64bit x86 :-) v10.0 was not too bad.