On Tue, Jun 08, 2004 at 06:07:56PM +0200, Oliver Bock wrote:
> Hi all,
> I tested the amd64 (pure) environment some time ago and watch the list
> regularly. As we're reaching the point where almost all packages have been
> ported I'd like to think about a possible migration of an existing i386
> system. I can imagine that there a few (if not many) people out there who
> don't really want to throw away a working/configured installation... What
> kind of approaches could be used? Ok, at first there needs to be the
> descision whether one likes a "pure" 64bit system or not:
>
> 1.) 64bit kernel / 32bit userspace
> It should be possible to change to a 64bit-kernel only without touching
> userspace right? Of course you can't use the "pure" 64bit version. Could
> there be a later upgrade to the next point ->
This is easy to do however to upgrade your kernel originally you either
have to get someone else to compile it for you or use a biarch gcc. To
compile further kernels later you will need a biarch gcc or a 64bit
userspace.
> 2.) 64bit kernel / 32bit + 64bit userspace
> Is this possible AND sensible, having mixed mode userspace programs? How about
> the libs?
This is easy to do if one of the userspace is in a chroot. Right now I
am running a 64bit kernel with 32bit userspace and a pure64 chroot.
Eventually once multiarch is done (a few years from now?) you could have
64bit primary userspace and select 32bit apps as well if you wanted.
Multiarch allows for more than one arch's libraries to be installed at
the same time.
> 3.) Pure 64bit
> This is my favourite way to go but how (if possible) can one change existing
> libs and programs to their 64bit equivalent? Will there be a kind of "apt-get
> arch-upgrade"? ;-)
It is possible to install pure64 directly today (afaik), but I don't
think too many people have done so yet. The pure64 port is currently at
96.03% compiled, so pretty much anything you could want is available for
it now. However, I doubt it will be possible to do something similiar to
a apt-get arch-upgrade though.
Chris Cheney
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