[Debian-ppc64-devel] G5 install tips

[Thibaut VARENE]

On 11/3/07, Chuck <iMacG5 at disposeamail.com> wrote:
> Charles Plessy,
>
> Well yes, I was asking about Debian 64-bit.  The ram is maxed at 2 gig
> so 32-bit userland would be ok.  I would feel cleaner in pure 64 since
> G5 is a 64-bit chip.  There are of bugs at any mode switch boundary.
> People find more every day.

The G5 cpu will execute faster in 32bit mode than in 64bit most of the
time for reasons that have been explained at great length elsewhere
(and which also apply to other CPU families, btw)

Only a very limited subset of applications doing specific stuff would
actually benefit from running in 64bit mode.

> What I'm after is install advice more than design discussions.  How
> would I best proceed?  Even if I took your approach?  Don't I need a
> 64bit kernel either way?  Given my requirements don't I have to build
> it?  Given that, what's the best starting point?
>
> The PPC64 wiki claims 98% of userland is done.  What it does not cover
> is "getting started."  I need install advice.  There's no up-to-date
> installer that I found.

As far as I can tell, debian-ppc64 is pretty much dead at this point.
The archive is in a pretty poor state, and it seems that nobody really
cares. For a simple reason: most people actually run a 64bit kernel
with a 32bit userland and occasional 64bit apps using libc64... And
that's probably what you should do too...

HTH

-- 
Thibaut VARENE
http://www.parisc-linux.org/~varenet/