ThinkBlog

http://www.linux-mag.com/2004-07/athlon_01.html

The article referenced by the link in the title of this post comes from Linux Magazine’s July 2004 Feature, “Linux and the AMD64: The next generation of Linux’s native CPU” and is a helpful inroad to learning more about 64-bit computing. This link was given me by Chinaman, a member of the LinuxQuestions.org forum (I’m tek1024; go figure), and at the thread-level helped settle a minor point about whether it’s safe to run 32-bit applications/operating systems on a 64-bit processor. [Incidentally, it is if it’s AMD’s latest offering, classified as `x86_64′–which otherwise-cryptic syntax is good news to computer geeks who will read this as “sixty-four bit processor, compatible programs designed for other x86 architectures.”]

I’ve been very satisfied overall with the hardware itself. The problems have always arisen in that the versions of Linux that are built for 64-bit processors have not yet come to full maturity, so there are some odd errors that only make themselves known when trying to compile. (Notably, the reason I’m running a 32-bit Fedora Core 2 at this point is that when I tried to compile Gaim for the 64-bit version, it threw all these non-Sig11* errors at me. They have since fixed this issue in Gaim, and it’s likely that the next iteration of Fedora will have me switching back to the full-fledged x86_64 version. If I had time, I’d go Gentoo but, sadly, I went through my larval stage a few years ago and have since gotten a job and research opportunities, and fallen in love [hey, what can I say?].)

* [Signal 11 is what gcc, the Gnu C Compiler, throws when you’re trying to compile something that stresses the hardware you’re running. In most cases, it’s the RAM; I lived with a flaky stick of DDR for a very long time before this last upgrade. To see a lengthy and informative FAQ/discussion about signal 11–also known as a SEGFAULT or segmentation fault–see R. E. Wolff’s Sig 11 FAQ.]

In any case, I’m very pleased with this hardware and am able to compile a kernel in fairly short order, and everything I do is quite fast. Granted, that could have something to do with the fact that I’m running IceWM, but nevertheless, I recommend the AMD64 to anyone new. The fact that this thing runs all OS’s means that you don’t need to commit to a version of software that may or may not work correctly; and if you install a 32-bit version now and choose to upgrade later, you can just switch out the OS and you’ve suddenly taken an exponential leap (in fact, from 2³² to 2⁶⁴)!

http://www.linux-mag.com/2004-07/athlon_01.html

The article referenced by the link in the title of this post comes from Linux Magazine’s July 2004 Feature, “Linux and the AMD64: The next generation of Linux’s native CPU” and is a helpful inroad to learning more about 64-bit computing. This link was given me by Chinaman, a member of the LinuxQuestions.org forum (I’m tek1024; go figure), and at the thread-level helped settle a minor point about whether it’s safe to run 32-bit applications/operating systems on a 64-bit processor. [Incidentally, it is if it’s AMD’s latest offering, classified as `x86_64′–which otherwise-cryptic syntax is good news to computer geeks who will read this as “sixty-four bit processor, compatible programs designed for other x86 architectures.”]

I’ve been very satisfied overall with the hardware itself. The problems have always arisen in that the versions of Linux that are built for 64-bit processors have not yet come to full maturity, so there are some odd errors that only make themselves known when trying to compile. (Notably, the reason I’m running a 32-bit Fedora Core 2 at this point is that when I tried to compile Gaim for the 64-bit version, it threw all these non-Sig11* errors at me. They have since fixed this issue in Gaim, and it’s likely that the next iteration of Fedora will have me switching back to the full-fledged x86_64 version. If I had time, I’d go Gentoo but, sadly, I went through my larval stage a few years ago and have since gotten a job and research opportunities, and fallen in love [hey, what can I say?].)

* [Signal 11 is what gcc, the Gnu C Compiler, throws when you’re trying to compile something that stresses the hardware you’re running. In most cases, it’s the RAM; I lived with a flaky stick of DDR for a very long time before this last upgrade. To see a lengthy and informative FAQ/discussion about signal 11–also known as a SEGFAULT or segmentation fault–see R. E. Wolff’s Sig 11 FAQ.]

In any case, I’m very pleased with this hardware and am able to compile a kernel in fairly short order, and everything I do is quite fast. Granted, that could have something to do with the fact that I’m running IceWM, but nevertheless, I recommend the AMD64 to anyone new. The fact that this thing runs all OS’s means that you don’t need to commit to a version of software that may or may not work correctly; and if you install a 32-bit version now and choose to upgrade later, you can just switch out the OS and you’ve suddenly taken an exponential leap (in fact, from 2³² to 2⁶⁴)!