How long will 64bit Ubuntu users have to wait?

[Tollef Fog Heen]

Ahmed El-Mahmoudy skrev:

> 1. This multi-arch proposal, that so far no one is volunteering to 
> implement, isn't it already being worked on in Debian? or do I have 
> wrong understanding?

For some value of worked on.  It's quite dormant at the moment, 
unfortunately.

> 2. I have a case in which supporting 32-bit proprietary apps under 
> 64-bit linux is important (at least to me), I'm an electronics engineer, 
> and I use proprietary CAD software, some of them have 64-bit versions, 
> and some don't, so I would like to switch to 64-bit linux to get 
> performance advantage of the 64-bit versions of the CAD software I use, 
> but also I still need to be able to run the other 32-bit CAD software. 

You're aware that you can use a 32 bit chroot?

sudo debootstrap --resolve-deps --arch i386 dapper 
/usr/local/dapper-chroot-i386 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu

Add bind mounts for /home and /tmp to fstab (in your normal system) and 
install and set up dchroot, then you can run dchroot my-cad-program and 
it should Just Work.  Oh, and you might want to mount /proc in the 
chroot too.

Note that the chroot needs upgrades and regular maintenance just like 
your outer system, so be sure to run synaptic or similar in there once 
in a while.

- tfheen