[Discuss] Systemd & not Re: I, uh, deleted the wrong kernel....

[gaf.linux at gmail.com (Jerry Feldman)]

On 10/03/2016 10:49 AM, Mike Small wrote:
> Jerry Feldman <gaf.linux at gmail.com> writes:
> ...
>>> The only thing I kind of dislike about slackware is the directory
>>> structure in the 64 bit version. Libraries go into /lib64 and
>>> /usr/lib64.  Obviously this is a pretty petty criticism, but not really
>>> needing multilib I find it annoying to have these directory names. I
>>> prefer OpenBSD's approach, which is to not bother with multilib and have
>>> simple expected names like /usr/lib and /lib.
>>>
>> Fedora  and RHEL are the same way. That is because they fully support
>> both 64-bit and 32 bit libraries and applications.
> And Debian/Ubuntu too, though I almost like their solution better even
> though it's actually more complex.  It just seems backward looking to do
> the rename on the 64 bit directory. I guess in 2006 or whenever it
> probably seemed reasonable, but in retrospect lib32 for x86 and lib for
> x86_64 would have made a lot more sense.
>
> Like a lot of things in Linux, for the sake of someone who needs a
> feature you have this added piece of clutter/complexity you may
> eventually need to become aware of that you would never hit on a simpler
> less feature laden O/S. (But of course if you actually need to run 64
> bit and 32 bit processes side by side OpenBSD's answer of, "if you need
> 32 bit install the 32 version of the O/S," might be frustrating, at
> least until they finish the vm hypervisor they've started maybe.)
>
First of all, this was done when 64-bit was the exception. Running a 64 
bit VM inside of a 32-bit OS is certainly a poor practice for many reasons.
32 bit applications actually perform better in a 64-bit OS than they do 
natively. (I had to run a number of benchmarks several years ago). I 
would agree that maybe naming lib32 and lib64 would have been a better 
practice. I actually go back the the 8 and 16-bit era. Also, this 
practice goes back to prior to x86_64. we had several 64-bit chips 
before AMD came out with the 64-bit x86 chip. MIPS, PA-RISC, and Sparc 
had 32-bit legacy modes, and many users were 32-bit. The Alpha did not 
have 32-bit legacy, and did not have a 32-bit mode, so Unix and Linux on 
Alpha were all 64-bit. (there were software models that allowed a 32-bit 
application to be compiled to run on the Alpha, but it was mainly a 
compiler option).



-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf.linux at gmail.com>
Boston Linux and Unix http://www.blu.org
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