I've been looking around and am planning on building an x86-64 system as
soon as the big ones come out (sledgehammers, not the single proc
clawhammers, besides I won't have enough money at that point probably).
However, I'm concerned about how Linux is doing in terms of support
for the native 64 bit side.
The advantage linux has: Opensource software means that most likely
(barring old 32 bit ASM and other assumptions about being on IA-32), you
just type "make" and you get a 64 bit binary.
The disadvantage: "make" needs a compiler, and writing compilers for
archetectures you don't have any info about can be a bit challenge (darn
well impossible). Also, writing a compiler takes time, and I don't
exactly have the knowledge to contribute.
So I was wondering if anyone (Warren seems to be somehow involved with
AMDMB) knew the status of x86-64 support in Linux (compilers, binutils,
kernel support, etc). Info on www.x86-64.org seems a bit sketchy at
best. It mentions experimental versions of gcc, etc (I would expect
experimental though), but doesn't really say much more. Most of the
stuff up on there still seems to be in "We need to protect our IP" mode
(not that I blame them, this is a HUGE deal and isn't exactly like
software patents...) and are either bin only, or have restrictive EULAs.
Should I build a system (I have every intention of doing so, funds
providing, which could be an issue as I'm a student), I would be willing
to help out on any project to make a distribution for the x86-64. The
x86-64 has the advantage that it can run the old IA-32 code at full
speed, which means you could install a normal distribution and go from
there compiling natively, not needing to cross compile. I know a fair
amount about building Linux systems (and in the next few weeks I'll
learn more I'm sure as I help someone learn Linux from the ground up,
showing them what's "under the hood" by building a working system
completely from source), and would be happy to donate some of my time
(even if all I have is a lousy cross compiler on an IA-32 system!).
--MonMotha
- [luau] x86-64 Support Status in Linux MonMotha
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