Re: [Cooker] 64 vs 32 bit Cooker

[Colin Guthrie]

Robert Fox wrote:
> 2)  I read somewhere that there is little advantage to 64bit Linux for
> desktop.  I also recall some problems with OpenOffice and Firefox
> plugins.  How up to date is the X86_64 side and what in known not to
> work?  In other words, can someone spell out what the advantages and
> disadvantages of using 64bit OS vs 32bit (from Mandriva perspective!)

Stéphane answered some stuff here but I would just like to add that
while in the past there were major problems with RPMs on x86_64 lagging
behind i586, the new build system now pretty much ensures this is not
the case for all but a handful of specific packages.

Now that correct libification of a lot of packages has also been pushed
through, it is surprisingly simple to install x86_64 base system but
then install e.g. 32 bit Openoffice/firefox over the top.

Firefox on 64bit does have a 32 plugin wrapper that works pretty well
for the most part, but did cause some stability issues for me a while
back when I last tried (may be a lot better now tho')

32 bit firefox works flawlessly here.

HTHs

Col.

-- 

+--------------------------+
|      Colin Guthrie       |
+--------------------------+
| cguthrie(at)mandriva.org |
|  http://colin.guthr.ie/  |
+--------------------------+