Re: ppc64 port

[Hector Oron <hector.oron@gmail.com>]

Hi Wart,

  I have been running ppc64 port from
http://debian-ppc64.alioth.debian.org/ and it was fine when I tried it.

> While digging through d-i, I've noticed some signs of ppc64 port
> (which was, as far as I remember, a heroic attempt to make a 64-bit
> userland Debian port).

Actually it was not an attempt as they got it working :) AFAICT

> Do we actually need it and is anybody going to support/maintain it?
> 

The problem on ppc 64 bit architecture was that Debian already has a 32
bit port and it is more efficient on 64 bit architectures, because it
uses more efficiently L2 cache on non FP instructions. The only problem
I had was trying to run IBM 64 bit SDK3.0 for CELL (from Barcelona's
Supercomputing Center) on 32 bit Debian.

IMHO (i am not a DD) this is something ppc Debian people need to discuss
if it is worth to have that 64 bit architecture on Debian (note the lack
of ppc supporters and the unwillingness to get back some good
contributors to ppc). I would be interested on being part of the ppc64
devel team if one is created.

If those d-i bits do not hurt I would appreciate if those are keep in
the case someone wants to bootstrap ppc64.

Cheers

Héctor Orón