6.x from i386 to amd64

[Peter Jeremy]

On Wed, 2006-Nov-01 06:14:03 +1000, Greg Black wrote:
>The state of the software out there is disgracefully far from
>being ready for 64-bit platforms -- after wasting weeks in a
>vain attempt to get a workable development environment on my
>amd64 setup, I've just completed a move to i386 (by a fresh
>install).

This doesn't tally with my experiences.  I've had an amd64 laptop
for most of the year and whilst I've got an i386 partition on it,
I almost never use it.  In my case, the only things I've missed
are win32-codecs (which is unlikely to ever work on amd64) and the
java plugin (and I can always use appletviewer if I really need
to look at an applet).  I've recently discovered that libffi isn't
supported on amd64 but don't really need libffi.

I agree there is some atrocious software around but things are vastly
better than when I first wound up using a DEC Alpha in late 1998.
(I'll also admit that I maintain some freeware software that is not
64-bit clean - but it started life on a PDP-11 and I've got more
urgent issues to address in it).

It would be nice to see the 32-bit emulation improved so that it is
possible to build/run the i386 versions of ports on an amd64 system.
This would be the best of both worlds.  If I had any free time, I
would even work on this myself.

-- 
Peter Jeremy
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