I'm about 99% sure that Debian has run 64-bit SPARC kernels for a while now, just that few packages are compiled for it. Unlike x86, most binaries are faster as 32-bit code unless they make use of >= 3GB RAM and/or 64-bit integer calculations. As a result, only stuff like databases, webservers, or heavy large integer usage (RSA encryption, e.g.) would really benefit much. Finding a binary that is faster when compiled as 64-bit code is an exception to the rule. However, using SPARCv9 instructions (which require a 64-bit CPU) in 32-bit binary can improve performance.
Patrick
And they even did build a 64 bit kernel as well. A how-to bootstrapping
it for SPARC64 can be found in this wiki.
http://wiki.debian.org/Sparc64
Thanks,
Frans van Berckel
Archive: [🔎] 1342187832.6087.6.camel@deblnxsrv224.lan" target="_blank">http://lists.debian.org/[🔎] 1342187832.6087.6.camel@deblnxsrv224.lan