We use 32-bit openSUSE. Mainly because we integrate with lots of devices that are 16/32-bit. We have been careful in our code to try to be sure to state the real size of things that have an explicit size. But we have not had the resources to test a 64-bit compile of everything. It is on our ever-so-long to do list. Also, we use some libraries like the Intel Performance Primitives for which we have purchased the 32-bit versions. All these things, of course, can be solved. As it turns out, we hired a new developer who unknowingly installed the 64-bit openSUSE. I thought: here will be our 64-bit Guinea pig. We discovered that an important proprietary library for which we have the source (from SICK AG) has oodles of 32-bit assumptions. It is the most convoluted C++ code I have had the displeasure to meet. Do we want to try to rewrite their code? Naahh. And they did not really like supporting Linux in the first place. I think the code they provided us was really ported to Qnx by a different customer. We found that it seems to work on Linux. I realize that we need to resolve this issue. But it is not an easy one. I understand the advantage of focusing on one architecture. But is 32-bit really dead? I say: not quite yet... As a minimum, it might be a good idea to decide to eliminate it at some reasonable point in the future, and make an official announcement of that. This will let people plan the transition. The official announcement and a time schedule will let people convince the powers that be that resources are needed within that time frame to resolve any local issues. Roger Oberholtzer Ramböll RST Office: +46 (0)10-615 6020 Mobile: +46 (0)70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se ________________________________________ From: Michal Kubecek [mkubecek@suse.cz] Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2015 12:00 AM To: opensuse-factory@opensuse.org Subject: Re: [opensuse-factory] Road-map for openSuse 13.3? On Wed, May 06, 2015 at 04:10:56PM -0400, Robert Schweikert wrote:
On 05/06/2015 02:35 PM, Michal Kubecek wrote:
I'm going to say something that will be very unpopular but I feel it really needs to be said. Should we really care so much about i586? I don't have any 32-bit system since something like 2008, I definitely haven't seen any 32-bit x86 CPU in usual e-shops for at least 5 years and I'm not sure I would be able to buy one today if I tried hard.
Well, I still use a netbook every now and then that I like to update to get security fixes etc.
And you would (unless we are brave enough to drop i586), they would just be less tested than on x86_64. Which wouldn't really be that much different from today's 13.2 or Tumbleweed. Out of curiosity... the low-end netbook I bought in summer 2010 has a 64-bit processor; how old is yours that it doesn't?
Try to answer honestly: how much testing and QA did current (13.2 or Tumbleweed) openSUSE kernel get on i586?
Enough that the upgrade from 13.1 to 13.2 on the netbook worked flawlessly. Network, disk and everything I expect works.
And so does everything on mine running 13.1 with SLE12 based kernel. BtW, I have this combination on all my machines except two and all run without problems (I just don't consider it a statistically relevant sample). One of the remaining two has Evergreen 11.4 (with SLE11-SP2 based kernel) and runs fine as well. The only machine I have problems with is one I dared to install 13.2 on (but those are not kernel problems). Michal Kubecek -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org