32-bit/i386 ports/packges on amd64

[Andriy Gapon]

I installed FreeBSD 6.2 amd64 and then a lot of amd64 bit packages on
top of that. Now I need a browser with java plugin. As I understand
there is no browser plugin in 64-bit java (e.g. jdk15).

One option that I saw is to use linux browser with linux java.
While this is a valid option, I still want to get FreeBSD i386 bowser
with FreeBSD i386 java running.

As a browser I'd like to get either opera (which is i386-only for
freebsd) or firefox; for JRE I'd like either 1.4 or 1.5.

I saw a number of questions on this list about installing opera on amd64
and about 32-bit java. But I didn't find any comprehensive answers,
howtos, etc.

Has anyone succeeded with this ?
Has anyone managed to develop a well-defined and maintainable way of
using i386 packages (and/or ports) on amd64 ?

P.S.
Isn't it a little bit ironic that using *Linux* 32-bit packages on amd64
is a supported and easy option, but using FreeBSD i386 packages is a
gray, if not dark, territory ?
BTW, it seems that various Linux distros have developed ways for easy
co-existence of x86 and x86_64 packages.

-- 
Andriy Gapon