From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org ([208.92.234.80] helo=lists.gentoo.org) by finch.gentoo.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1PQTyM-0003zW-E8 for garchives@archives.gentoo.org; Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:02:58 +0000 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 0BCDBE0760 for ; Thu, 9 Dec 2010 00:02:57 +0000 (UTC) Received: from qmta09.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net (qmta09.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net [76.96.30.96]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D66F4E07A3 for ; Wed, 8 Dec 2010 23:03:52 +0000 (UTC) Received: from omta19.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net ([76.96.30.76]) by qmta09.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net with comcast id gd9A1f0021eYJf8A9n3shQ; Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:03:52 +0000 Received: from ajax.firstbooks ([68.40.15.84]) by omta19.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net with comcast id gn3q1f00A1op4JC01n3rvf; Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:03:51 +0000 Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2010 18:03:44 -0500 From: Frank Peters To: gentoo-amd64@lists.gentoo.org Subject: Re: [gentoo-amd64] About to install on a 64 bit system. Advice wanted. Message-Id: <20101208180344.eefa3254.frank.peters@comcast.net> In-Reply-To: <4CFFF5DE.20303@gmail.com> References: <4CFFF5DE.20303@gmail.com> X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.0.3 (GTK+ 2.20.1; x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu) Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-amd64@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-amd64@lists.gentoo.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Archives-Salt: 7e1f309f-000b-4dc6-908c-6b0a04d7ad83 X-Archives-Hash: cda9b60f9c7fa4d1362ed9f29bdcd881 On Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:17:18 -0600 Dale wrote: > > What are some things that I should watch for and enable that isn't so > obvious for someone new to 64 bit? > The first thing to decide is whether or not you want a pure 64-bit system or a 64-bit system that keeps 32-bit capability. I am a purist. I left 32-bit programs in the dust a long time ago. But as a consequence there are some things that I will miss because they are available in 32-bit packages only. An example would be Acroread, the PDF viewer, from Adobe. Without Acroread, you will only view pdf files through the 64-bit xpdf. The Intel C++ compiler is another example. In fact, most commercial software that bothers to release a Linux version will do so in 32-bit format only. So if you need to make use of those offerings, you'll need to keep 32-bit compatibility. My own view is that these software developers are way behind the times and should have long ago made their products in a 64-bit form. It's not that difficult to do. Whatever the choice, pure 64-bit or 64/32, Gentoo makes it easy. Frank Peters