[haiku] Re: New alpha?
- From: Alexander von Gluck <kallisti5@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2011 11:32:50 -0600
On Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:51:45 +0100
Jaroslav Šmíd <dataman64bit@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On 02/19/2011 01:59 PM, Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
> > On Sat, 2011-02-19 at 13:52 +0100, Jaroslav Šmíd wrote:
> >> I always come into stubborn people, keeping saying its all about
> >> ammount of physical memory.
> >
> > Actually, it's more about the complete inability to run 64-bit OSes.
> >
> > There are no advantages and only disadvantages. I've *tried* 64-bit
> > Linux, and the apps I use are noticeably slower - all pretty
> > heavyweight DSP stuff, where you'd think the extra registers would
> > help.
>
> I have used x86-64 linux for like 5 years and it *is* noticeably
> faster then x86-32.
>
> Ok, I give up... this leads to nowhere.
Ok, look... here is the deal:
1) Bloat - On 64-bit systems, binaries have to be 64-bit... they also
have to have 64-bit shared libraries to support them. We *already* have
gcc2/gcc4 hybrid libraries to deal with to have BeOS binary
compatibility (which is the original stated goal of R1). The solution
to this is to have *three - four* copies of *every* essential system
shared library. (gcc2 32-bit, gcc4 32-bit, gcc2 64-bit?, gcc4 64-bit)
2) No software - So your system is 64-bits... now what? The only
applications that really would take advantage of this are number
crunching academic ones. Yes 64-bit is the bees-knees, no it is not a
requirement for a great desktop experience.
3) Stability - We are still working through and stabilizing bugs in the
32-bit code so we can make a release... adding unneeded and unused
complexity is not good for the release road-map.
4) Lack of interest - Not a whole lot of core developers care enough
about 64-bit atm. Who is going to make 1-3 happen? If you really
want 64-bit... then make it happen. This is open source, if you want a
feature and no-one else wants to do it.. then do it yourself. (just
make sure your work is up to the Haiku quality.. else it will be
rejected)
While 64-bit may be a great long term goal (especially to promote clean
non-x86 centric code and assist the arm and ppc ports)... it is
something that will come after R1. Haiku is targeted towards user
experience as a desktop OS. If we don't stay on target, R1 will never
be released.
Sorry to sound like a rant, but these conversations come up a few times
a year with the exact same overall consensus.
//www.freelists.org/archive/haiku/ , search for 64-bit or IA64
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