The future of 32-bit Linux [LWN.net]

The future of 32-bit Linux

Posted Dec 6, 2020 13:36 UTC (Sun) by nix (subscriber, #2304)
In reply to: The future of 32-bit Linux by atomsymbol
Parent article: The future of 32-bit Linux

... are we reading the same article? Most of these points are mentioned at least once: some (like the ability to run 32-bit stuff on 64-bit platforms) more than once (it covers both 64-bit kernel / 32-bit userspace, and 64-bit hardware / 32-bit kernel).

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The future of 32-bit Linux

Posted Dec 16, 2020 20:23 UTC (Wed) by atomsymbol (guest, #109825) [Link]

Yes, we are reading the same article, but the point is that my viewpoint greatly differs from the article's viewpoint. The article's viewpoint is that 32-bit pointers on 64-bit machines is a question of the last resort, i.e. use 32-bit pointers if you are forced to do so ---- while my viewpoint is to use 32-bit pointers on 64-bit machines when it makes sense, i.e. use 64-bit pointers if you are forced to do so.

The article generally implies the following: 32-bit pointers are a legacy thing if you have more than 8 GB of RAM
My comment generally implies the following: 64-bit pointers might be unnecessary even if you have more than 8 GB of RAM

-atom