64 bit support?

D

Dracul

Gawd
Joined
Jan 8, 2002
Messages
774
Now that i traded my laptop and my new comp is going to be on the way, i decided to do some tri-booting. with xp, slack 10, and free bsd 5.2.1 .. now i know i read that some linux distro's are 64 bit right now, but i'm pretty certain i want to use slack, as its what i used for a little bit before i went to a laptop. but when i went to get it, i saw there is only 1 set of iso's to download, so is it just a matter of using a different kernel? and while i saw i can download a version of free bsd for amd 64, i didn't read anything conclusive that its 64 bit.

so.. to sum up.. is slack 10, and free bsd 64 bit? and if not, what do i need to make them 64 bit??

thanks
-Bob
 
FreeBSD/amd64 is 64-bit clean. It is not FreeBSD/i386 binaries that have been tested on amd64, it's the amd64-specific version of the OS...Same source, just built for amd64.
 
AMD64 support in Linux is pretty good, until you start wanting to play with proprietary binary-only software. As long as you stick to the OSS stuff, you won't have any problems. I'd have to assume it's the same with with FreeBSD.
 
but will i have to use a different kernel when i install slackware? cuase i know i had to use a different one for when i installed on a dual cpu system..
 
Slack is, currently, only 32 bit. Your 64bit processor, in this case, is just a fast 32bit CPU (like when you're installing windows). If you want a 64bit OS, you'll have to use a different distro.
 
Dracul said:
but will i have to use a different kernel when i install slackware? cuase i know i had to use a different one for when i installed on a dual cpu system..
Click to expand...

No, since the Athlon 64 can run 32-bit x86 code. You have to use an SMP-enabled kernel to take advantage of a dual CPU or hyperthreaded system, but it's not necessary to use a different kernel for the Athlon 64.

The easiest way to have a full 64-bit enabled Linux/software system is to change distros, like to SuSE Pro 64-bit edition, or something like Gentoo, which allows you to compile almost every program (except proprietary or closed sourced binary-only programs) from scratch and have them take advantage of the AMD64 architecture and extensions.
 
Hi
Don't know if this is any help but I am using the Mandrake64 beta and it's great (AMD 64 + Gigabyte GA-K8NS w/ on-board sound and lan working).

Cheers

L
 
Gentoo with AMD64 is 0wnage. You can't run a faster OS than that. Let alone Linux distro.
 
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