Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]


Groups > linux.debian.user > #233042

Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems

From Roberto C. Sánchez <roberto@debian.org>
Newsgroups linux.debian.user
Subject Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems
Date 2021-03-14 12:40 +0100
Message-ID <BSxge-A7-5@gated-at.bofh.it> (permalink)
References <BSwNc-qD-3@gated-at.bofh.it> <BSx6x-x7-1@gated-at.bofh.it>
Organization linux.* mail to news gateway

Show all headers | View raw


On Sun, Mar 14, 2021 at 07:19:25AM -0400, The Wanderer wrote:
> On 2021-03-14 at 06:49, Susmita/Rajib wrote:
> 
> > While Intel PCs are also 64bit processors?
> 
> Because of the history of the processor microarchitectures involved.
> 
> The x86 processor line (32-bit and older) was, to the best of my
> knowledge, originally an Intel thing. Before i386 (where the 'i' may
> stand for Intel, I'm not sure), there was 286, and other things earlier
> than that; if my memory just offhand is accurate, the oldest one was
> probably called 8086. After i386, you have 486, 586, and 686; current
> Debian 32-bit packages are actually compiled against the 686 baseline,
> not 386 as such.
> 
> Intel owns the patents for the 32-bit x86 CPU architecture, and licenses
> them to other companies for a price. AMD is one of those other
> companies; that's how AMD is allowed to create 32-bit x86 CPUs.
> 
> When 64-bit came along, rather than extending the x86 line, Intel
> started from scratch and designed an entire new CPU architecture. That
> got called ia64, and it never caught on; it eventually failed in the
> marketplace, except possibly in very limited market segments.
> when Intel created a 64-bit architecture (called ia64), it turned out to
> be a developmental dead end and failed in the marketplace.
> 
> At around the same time, AMD created a 64-bit CPU architecture which
> extended the x86 line, and was backwards compatible with existing
> software. That got called amd64, and is also sometimes called x86_64, or
> other names in addition. It caught on, and became so successful that
> Intel abandoned its ia64 approach and started making amd64 CPUs itself.
> 
> AMD owns the patents for the 64-bit amd64 CPU architecture, and licenses
> them to other companies for a price. Intel is one of those other
> companies; that's how Intel is allowed to create 64-bit amd64 CPUs.
> 
> 
> Or, put briefly: because AMD created the underlying design for how that
> type of CPU works, even if Intel is the one making the specific CPU
> model in question.
> 
That is an excellent summary.

The only thing I would add is that Intel, an effort to not appear
completely buffoonish, does not refer to amd64.  They might use x86_64
more commonly now (I'm not certain), but for a quite some time they used
the designation "em64t" (standing for something like "ehananced memory
64-bit something or other").  Occasional references to em64t can be
found in some places.  It refers to the same thing: amd64 <-> x86_64 <->
em64t.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Intel that they, as the originators
of the x86 architecture could have been so far off when it came to the
development of the successor 64-bit architecture.

Regards,

-Roberto

-- 
Roberto C. Sánchez

Back to linux.debian.user | Previous | NextPrevious in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread


Thread

[?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems "Susmita/Rajib" <bkpsusmitaa@gmail.com> - 2021-03-14 12:10 +0100
  Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and  as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2021-03-14 12:30 +0100
    Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Roberto C. Sánchez <roberto@debian.org> - 2021-03-14 12:40 +0100
      Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2021-03-14 16:50 +0100
    Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-03-14 12:50 +0100
      Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> - 2021-03-14 15:00 +0100
        [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2021-03-14 20:20 +0100
          Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> - 2021-03-15 09:20 +0100
            Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as  i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are  also 64bit systems <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-03-15 10:10 +0100
              Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> - 2021-03-15 11:20 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as  i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are  also 64bit systems <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-03-15 12:10 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> - 2021-03-15 12:40 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as  i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are  also 64bit systems <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-03-15 13:00 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386  for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also  64bit systems IL Ka <kazakevichilya@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 13:20 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as  i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are  also 64bit systems Joe <joe@jretrading.com> - 2021-03-15 14:00 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Gene Heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2021-03-15 15:00 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2021-03-15 17:50 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Gene Heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2021-03-15 19:20 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2021-03-15 20:30 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as  i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are  also 64bit systems Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-03-15 16:10 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> - 2021-03-15 20:30 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as  i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are  also 64bit systems Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 22:50 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386  for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also  64bit systems Christian Groessler <chris@groessler.org> - 2021-03-15 23:20 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> - 2021-03-16 08:20 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Gene Heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2021-03-15 14:40 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as  i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are  also 64bit systems <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-03-15 15:00 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as  i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are  also 64bit systems <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-03-15 15:10 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Gene Heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> - 2021-03-15 15:10 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2021-03-15 15:10 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2021-03-15 15:50 +0100
                Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as  i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are  also 64bit systems <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-03-15 16:00 +0100
            Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2021-03-15 16:10 +0100
              Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a  32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit  systems Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-03-15 17:50 +0100
              Re: [TOTALLY OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Sven Hartge <sven@svenhartge.de> - 2021-03-15 20:40 +0100
                Re: [TOTALLY OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386  for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also  64bit systems Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2021-03-15 20:50 +0100
                Re: [TOTALLY OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> - 2021-03-15 22:00 +0100
                Re: [TOTALLY OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386  for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also  64bit systems Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2021-03-15 22:30 +0100
                Re: [TOTALLY OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386  for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also  64bit systems Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 23:10 +0100
                Re: [TOTALLY OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386  for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also  64bit systems Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2021-03-16 00:10 +0100
            Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-03-15 17:40 +0100
              Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2021-03-15 18:00 +0100
                Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-03-15 18:20 +0100
                Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2021-03-15 18:50 +0100
              Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and  as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Celejar <celejar@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 18:40 +0100
                Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-03-15 20:10 +0100
              Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2021-03-15 21:00 +0100
                Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-03-15 22:10 +0100
          Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a  32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit  systems Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 09:50 +0100
            Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2021-03-15 16:30 +0100
              Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a  32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit  systems Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2021-03-15 17:40 +0100
              Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a  32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit  systems Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 23:10 +0100
                Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a  32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit  systems Roberto C. Sánchez <roberto@debian.org> - 2021-03-15 23:20 +0100
                Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a  32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit  systems <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-03-16 09:20 +0100
    Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Cmdte Alpha Tigre Z <santiagopinth@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 03:30 +0100
  Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-03-14 12:30 +0100
  Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Eduardo M KALINOWSKI <eduardo@kalinowski.com.br> - 2021-03-14 12:30 +0100
  Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-03-14 12:40 +0100
  Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Peter Ehlert <peter@sdi-baja.com> - 2021-03-14 12:50 +0100
    Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-03-14 13:00 +0100
      [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2021-03-14 20:00 +0100
        Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a  32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Nicholas Geovanis <nickgeovanis@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 17:30 +0100
          Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a  32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit  systems songbird <songbird@anthive.com> - 2021-03-16 13:30 +0100
            Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a  32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit  systems Martin Smith <tech@smithproductions.co.uk> - 2021-03-16 14:30 +0100
  Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and  as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems songbird <songbird@anthive.com> - 2021-03-14 13:20 +0100
  [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems "Susmita/Rajib" <bkpsusmitaa@gmail.com> - 2021-03-14 13:40 +0100
    Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems "Susmita/Rajib" <bkpsusmitaa@gmail.com> - 2021-03-14 15:20 +0100
      [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems "Susmita/Rajib" <bkpsusmitaa@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 05:10 +0100
        Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org> - 2021-03-15 11:50 +0100
        Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as  amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-03-15 14:40 +0100

csiph-web