What precisely would be the implications of turning off lib32 ?

[Arthur Chance]

On 30/06/2020 13:42, Polytropon wrote:
> On Tue, 30 Jun 2020 17:50:41 +0530, Manish Jain wrote:
>> Whenever I install FreeBSD, I see the installer automatically selects 
>> the lib32 distribution for installation.
>>
>> I often wonder what would happen if I turn off lib32. How does it affect 
>> my amd64 box ?
> 
> Generally, a 64 bit system can execute 32 bit programs. If
> those are linked against system libraries which on amd64
> are 64 bit, the program would not work as expected, so
> there are 32 bit libraries for (potential) 32 bit programs
> that you might wish to run.
> 
> 

I installed my latest server without lib32 and haven't hit any problems.
I know that Wine used to (and maybe still does) need 32 bit libraries.
There are also 56 ports that are flagged as for i386 but not amd64, but
for the great majority of things I don't think you need lib32.

It would be helpful if a core developer could say what the official
policy is.

-- 
Fat Earther: One who believes the world is round but has put on too
much weight round the middle.