Newbie questions about SuSE for AMD64 ..
Is there a document that explains the various nuances of how software is (or should be) optimized for AMD64 when using SuSE? For example .. I'm now installing SuSE for AMD64 on my machine, but have all the software packages themselves been compiled for AMD64, or are they still 32bit? And I know compiled isn't necessarily optimized, so are any of the software packages further optimized for AMD64? And finally, what about drivers? In theory, to have a more optimized system, would you need a full set of 64bit optimized hardware drivers? I'm the first one in our office to buy a 64bit machine, so I have no experience with anything but 32bit systems. (Well, Atari Jaguar .. but .. ;) ) Mark
"dreadnought"
Is there a document that explains the various nuances of how software is (or should be) optimized for AMD64 when using SuSE?
No, not really - but there's not much to do, the system should be setup fine ;-)
For example .. I'm now installing SuSE for AMD64 on my machine, but have all the software packages themselves been compiled for AMD64,
Run file /usr/bin/* and see yourself - or check on the DVD how many files are in the i586 directory. It's basically: - OpenOfficeOrg is 32-bit - grub is 32-bit - Everything else is 64-bit - We have most (all?) libraries needed to execute any 32-bit program.
or are they still 32bit? And I know compiled isn't necessarily optimized, so are any of the software packages further optimized for AMD64?
The 64-bit compiler produces optimized code for AMD Athlon64 and AMD Opteron by default. No extra switches are needed. Just the platform is a bit newer, so the compiler might not know all quirks.
And finally, what about drivers? In theory, to have a more optimized system, would you need a full set of 64bit optimized hardware drivers?
You cannot use 32-bit hardware drivers inside a 64-bit kernel. All drivers that come with 9.0/AMD64 are 64-bit.
I'm the first one in our office to buy a 64bit machine, so I have no experience with anything but 32bit systems. (Well, Atari Jaguar .. but .. ;) )
There's a whitepaper on SLES8 for AMD64 on our website, most of the stuff there applies to 9.0 also, you might want to look at it for some details: http://www.suse.com/en/business/products/server/sles/sles8_amd64.pdf Cheers, Andreas -- Andreas Jaeger, aj@suse.de, http://www.suse.de/~aj SuSE Linux AG, Deutschherrnstr. 15-19, 90429 Nürnberg, Germany GPG fingerprint = 93A3 365E CE47 B889 DF7F FED1 389A 563C C272 A126
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Andreas Jaeger
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dreadnought