Should Ubuntu drop x86_64 support ?

[mips]

From what I know Gentoo is the best as far as 64bit support goes.

That's what I've heard as well. Have a look at 64bit Sabayon Linux based on Gentoo, very nice.

[mips]

Well, that may be true, but it doesn't mean it should be this way.

Yes, but unfortunately it is for now. What we want and what we get are two different things. It would be nice if debian gave us multi-arch.

Being pratical I would say try another distro.

[henriquemaia]

Hey??? What?? I'm writing this post on my Dapper 64bit where there's very little I can complain about it, and you ask if Ubuntu should kill it?

No way!

[bluenova]

Drop it? Any why? It is unquestionable that 64bit is the way to the future. Most likely somewhere during 2007, all the cpus on the market (except leftovers) will be 64bit. What would be the point of doing something suicidal?

Apart from the fact that I use it, and it works. The only things that do not work are:
- flash (but you CAN install it if you want to mess a bit)
- wmv9 videos (but, same as above)
- ok, the repositories sometimes contains packages a little older

That's it. I personally don't see any other difference..... What other things you think do not work?

I'm looking to build a new system at the moment, and my parts retailer doesn't have any AMD 32 bit chips available only AMD 64.

[mips]

I'm looking to build a new system at the moment, and my parts retailer doesn't have any AMD 32 bit chips available only AMD 64.

Thats not a problem You can still use a 32bit OS or one of many 64bit OSs.

[kripkenstein]

Should the Ubuntu team stop maintaining the x86_64 version of Ubuntu ? It offers no more then the i386 version. In fact most things don't work with it. As a result they could focus more on the i386 and not have to build the desktop cds for it. Does anyone else think they should ?

[emphasis mine]

Actually having a 64-bit version benefits the 32-bit. It seems counterintuitive, at first, but it isn't: testing on more than one platform is a good way to get rid of certain very subtle bugs. Sometimes code 'works', but it doesn't work because of the coder's intent - it works because of a coincidence in how things are compiled and executed. Developing for many architectures is the best way to detect such bugs.

[Virak]

I am currently using an x86-64 Ubuntu install, so no. If Ubuntu drops x86-64 support, then I and likely many others using it will switch to another distro.

[bonzodog]

No, definitly not. Most new hardware is 64 bit now, and 64 bit development is coming along at a fair pace. Nearly every major distro has HAD to develop a 64 bit port, as it has become a nessecity. I am just waiting for the initial port of Zenwalk to x86-64.

[bruce89]

I'm looking to build a new system at the moment, and my parts retailer doesn't have any AMD 32 bit chips available only AMD 64.

AMD only makes 64 bit chips now AFAIK.

Here is a line explaining why AMD64 support shouldn't be dropped -

Linux Scooby-Doo 2.6.17-9-generic #2 SMP Thu Sep 21 22:33:03 UTC 2006 x86_64 GNU/Linux

What reason would there be to drop AMD64? PowerPC could be dropped in a few years time probably.

- ok, the repositories sometimes contains packages a little older

How?

there is TONS of 32bit software out there.

Any software which provides the source code can be compiled on AMD64 usually.

Whats so much better about 64 bit versus 32 bit ?

Essentially, 64 bit allows more than 4GiB of memory to be installed.

[mips]

Essentially, 64 bit allows more than 4GiB of memory to be installed.

It's not only that. Data can also be move around faster seing you have a 64bit bus/instruction set.