Path: csiph.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: rbowman Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: Old Hardware Redux Date: 22 Aug 2025 00:36:45 GMT Lines: 42 Message-ID: References: <1084bk6$2ia1m$2@paganini.bofh.team> <1084bpn$7mtq$26@dont-email.me> <68a64428@news.ausics.net> <1086q67$2rq5s$5@paganini.bofh.team> <1086st0$rgpt$20@dont-email.me> <68a7b270@news.ausics.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: individual.net yK5iARpqL16EhQ57Izcd0gsf5g0HylWAO356CbufYh95P3DjbL Cancel-Lock: sha1:b7NFhQLxLmWhpkgJ4REggKVpEw8= sha256:4AtOOxaGhv4Mg9j5Wc88UTtIMYB6WFrUvu7oCs1H59k= User-Agent: Pan/0.162 (Pokrosvk) Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:71886 On 22 Aug 2025 09:57:36 +1000, Computer Nerd Kev wrote: > rbowman wrote: >> That windows is closing. My work Linux box is 32-bit Debian because I >> have to build 32-bit legacy software. To clarify, the hardware is >> 64-bit so it could run the 64-bit Bullseye distro, and gcc has flags to >> build 32-bit. The problem comes with libraries. > > FWIW my newer laptop runs 64-bit Devuan but with 32bit x86 multiarch so > 32bit libraries are installed too and can be used to build/run 32bit x86 > software. So it runs a 64bit kernel and mostly 64bit software. > > Still there can be quirks, so there's a good argument for just going > with a 32bit install if you're mainly using the box for building/running > 32bit software. > > https://wiki.debian.org/CategoryMultiarch > > Of course that still relies on Debian/Devuan supporting 32bit packages. > If they did stop, you would need to build all libraries from source for > x86. How nasty that task is depends on how many dependencies you have > for your 32bit builds. It would have been nasty. The major obstacle was the ArcGIS Engine SDK which was 32-bit and heavily depended on COM. I worked on a dll to encapsulate the Esri calls to allow our non-Esri solution to also be used depending on the site's preference but calling into a 32-bit dll from a 64-bit application isn't pretty either. Esri dropped all their 32-bit stuff with the 11 release. In fact I just got the reminder "ArcGIS Engine entered Mature Support on March 1, 2024, and full retirement is scheduled for March 1, 2026. No further functionality updates, patches, or hotfixes will be available." Esri's 64-bit software and SDKs were entirely different and required a completely different approach. Esri is the 500 pound gorilla in the GIS field but many of their users were less than happy having to update workflows and scripts that had been in place for years. Even Microsoft hasn't been able to completely rewrite the book.