On Sat, 2004-12-04 23:29:48 -0700, Robert LeBlanc <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote in message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> First, a program needs to be specifically written for 64 bits? Or by
> just recompiling using 64-bit libs usually good enough?

A program needs to be *cleanly* written to compile on a 64 bit system.
However, that's not usually the case, especially if the program was
never ever tested on anything but i386.

Also, not all programs run faster because of being compiled to 64 bit
programs; to be honest, I expect that most programs would better stay in
32 bit because of memory size.

If you *really* want to take advantage of the 64 bit Opteron, you should
have an eye on the code GCC generates. At some time, it may be better to
code core routines (for mathematical computing) in assembler or to use
existing libraries that do exactly this...

> Second, to install a 64-bit kernel, you have to be running a 64-bit
> kernel using deb packages?

No. 64 bit userspace needs a 64 bit kernel, but all other combinations
have no further dependancies.

MfG, JBG

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