[CVALE] Running x86 programs on a 64 bit processor...

[Pete Zaitcev]

On Fri, 11 May 2007 07:37:29 -0700, "Landon Blake" <lblake at ksninc.com> wrote:

> One of the guys on the Debian user list told me that: "As for running
> x86 binaries on an x86_64 system, it can be done but needs some wizardry
> that seems to be beyond your current technical skill."

> What wizardry does he speak of?

He is talking about BINARIES.

What he is talking about, while not mentioning it by name, Debian made 
a completely idiotic mistake early on by not defaulting to /lib64 and now
they pay for it.

It's a lot of fun to see how Debuntu fans start squirming when this topic
is brought up. Debianites usually make good technical decisions, and this
lapse is amazing. I privately suspect that it happened because Uli Drepper
advocated /lib64 early on, and Uli works for Red Hat, so they just had
to do something else. Talk about cutting off one's nose to spite the face.
"Wizardry", my foot.

> If I get the source code for a program
> that needs to be compiled and I compile and build the program on my 64
> bit computer will it run?

Well, duh. Source always works.

-- Pete