On 11/21/2008 05:29 PM, Joachim Schrod wrote:
As I explained: There are 64-bit userland programs that I intend to use, where there are confirmed reports of crashes and instability in the last 6 months. This concerns in particular Eclipse and other Java-based packages, when one uses the 64-bit JVM 1.5 from Sun.
You can have both a 64 bit and 32 bit java installed. I'm not experienced beyond that, i.e. Eclipse, but you would use the update-alternatives script to switch which version would be the default java used.
Please note that updating to Java 6 or an other JVM is not possible for me; Java versions to be used are determined by my customers, not by me. I can't tell them to update the JVM for their central JBoss in their data center just because I want to use 64-bit Eclipse on OpenSUSE 11.1. They would laugh me out of the room, and just rightly so.
You could just use the 32 bit versions of the dependencies for Eclipse, set your 32 bit as default, and enjoy the best of both. In I believe 10.1 or 10.2, opensuse did not use a 64 bit browser because of the poor 64 bit plugin support at the time, including java. So they provided everything needed to run either arch.
Thus, more testing is needed for me before I make the switch to an all-64-bit userland. Add to that the recommendations from this mailing list to use 32-bit userland for all programs that use win32 codecs or flash, and I'm at the point to prefer to start with 32-bit userland programs and move gradually to 64-bit after testing. But for testing, I need a 64-bit kernel, and that triggered my question. Using 11.1 right from the start will be bleeding-edge enough for a workstation where schedules have to be met...
As you have mentioned many times, your use case for your computer requires it just works. Most things work in 64 bit, some not as mature as 32 bit. Some things run better 64 bit. In your case, kernel and supporting packages require 64 bit. You can mix your 64 bit and 32 bit userland apps to suit your needs. Some of our use case or goal is different. I have been using 64 bit since I believe 9.1. I have went from trying to get everything working as 64 bit, to seeing the wisdom of some things being used as 32 bit because of the lack of an equal or better 64 bit version. I have been frustrated that the adobe (or macromedia actually then) still hasn't made even a beta version of the flash plugin for 64 bit, while in that time I have seen the OSS community (with special thanks to Kandy and others) port a much more complicated app like OpenOffice to 64 bit. The problem some of us have to using 32 bit stuff in 64 bit is the "It works already as 32 bit" type of thinking which hinders 64 bit development. But you are free to use what works best for you in your use of your computer. What you are wanting to accomplish is definitely doable with a 64 bit opensuse, which I think have the best availability of the supporting packages to run 32 bit stuff in 64 bit. -- Joe Morris Registered Linux user 231871 running openSUSE 10.3 x86_64 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org