32 or 64??

[Chris Jones]

Wybo Dekker wrote:
> Chris Jones wrote:
>>> I have: one of my software packages, important for me, is based on xview, which 
>>> is an early Sun-development. My package does not compile on 64-bit machines, 
>>> since xview is frozen and not compatible with 64 bits.
>> Nothing stops you working in 32 bit mode on a 64 bit system. 64 bit is a 
>> super-set of 32, and completely backwards compatible.
> 
> that's exactly what I do, but the statement was that no problems were expected 
> for a 64-bits OS

I don't count this as a problem for 64 bit systems, since you are using 
now very obsolete and no longer supported code. This is the *real* 
problem in this case.

As 32 bit compatibility is built into 64 bit systems, having to run a 
few rogue applications in 32 bit mode is *not* a reason for not using 64 
bit when your hardware allows, nor is it IMO a reason to not recommend 
using it.

This also applies to flash. Even if (and I don't) you regard using the 
64 bit flash 'beta' plugin a problem, you can trivial choose instead to 
install the 32 bit firefox in a 64 bit system, and use the 'released' 32 
bit plugin instead....

cheers Chris