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Re: x86-64 mailing list



> > I think they're right this time. Most of the press releases that have gone
> > out mention AMD64 instead of x86-64, and the marketing info at amd.com all
> > mentions AMD64 as well.
> 
> Most of the press releases I've read also mention 'Itanium' and not
> 'ia64'. 

...But IA64 is the name for the platform, as opposed to a specific
implementation. We also refer to the Pentiums, Athlons and their smaller
cousins as x86 or i386 chips[1]. The right naming should follow the
architecture's name, not a specific chip's. 

> blackbird:/usr/src/linux/arch$ ls amd64
> ls: amd64: No such file or directory
> 
> IMHO, we should settle on a policy how to handle 32/64-bits mixed
> user-space and worry about marketing later.

I don't think it will be much of a problem - Take a look at Sparc, for
example. Most of the user space is compiled for 32 bits, only specific
bits (i.e. the kernel) are for 64 bits.

----
[1] And i386 is the right name, even if it names a specific model of
Intel chips - It is a great departure from previous x86 models, and it
is the base architecture where lots of code work... Try to run a decent
OS on a 8086/286 ;-)

-- 
Gunnar Wolf - gwolf@gwolf.cx - (+52-55)5630-9700 ext. 1366
PGP key 1024D/8BB527AF 2001-10-23
Fingerprint: 0C79 D2D1 2C4E 9CE4 5973  F800 D80E F35A 8BB5 27AF



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