any 64 bit lunix ready for prime time?

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
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last time i tried a 64 bit distro (it was probably ubuntu) it was buggy and half baked. are the current 64 bit distros good enough that i should switch from 32 bit? what 64 bit distro do you recommend
 

_Rick_

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2012
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Why should there be a difference between 64 bit and 32 bit?
It's the same code, just compiled two different ways...
 

Ancalagon44

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2010
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Why should there be a difference between 64 bit and 32 bit?
It's the same code, just compiled two different ways...

Yes but you need 64 bit drivers for most hardware I assume. Thats not a problem if you are using open source drivers, however, the majority of drivers are not open source, as far as I am aware.
 

Demo24

Diamond Member
Aug 5, 2004
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That must have been over 6 years ago then, I've been using 64 bit Linux variants for over 5 years and never had any problems. I can't see any good reason you wouldn't go 64 bit, unless you are running arm cores.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
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Yes but you need 64 bit drivers for most hardware I assume. Thats not a problem if you are using open source drivers, however, the majority of drivers are not open source, as far as I am aware.

Depends. I could run my system(C2D based) on 100% libre drivers, though I am using Nvidia's blobs. There might be some brand new stuff that doesn't have libre drivers, but anything that's been around a couple years should work fine. AFAIK, no distro does one bitness better than another. If you like whatever distro you're using in 32bit, you should like it in 64bit.
 

Jodell88

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
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I've never had any problems with 64bit linux. The only thing that crashes is flash >.>
 

Crusty

Lifer
Sep 30, 2001
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My entire company relies on 64-bit Linux. If it wasn't a stable platform we wouldn't be able to do anything.
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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I've been using 64-bit Linux with virtually no problems on my desktop for like 5 years now and before that on personal Alpha and Sparc64 servers. As Jodell88 says, flash was the only issue I really ran into and that's been fixed for several years now.
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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do they have 64 bit chrome?

Yep, been using that for quite some time as well.

Code:
$file /opt/google/chrome/chrome
/opt/google/chrome/chrome: ELF 64-bit LSB shared object, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.15, BuildID[sha1]=0x30554b657174efbde93dfc16a5015f6801c95b7f, stripped
 

jimmybgood9

Member
Sep 6, 2012
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There is the occasional app, usually an ancient legacy app, that is only available packaged in the 32-bit version. Those can be run by installing the appropriate 32-bit libraries. But, geez, even flash is 64-bit.

The best Gentoo
Runs on a 64-bit cpu

64
Is so much more.

Eight full bytes
Is out of sight.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
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last time i tried a 64 bit distro (it was probably ubuntu) it was buggy and half baked. are the current 64 bit distros good enough that i should switch from 32 bit? what 64 bit distro do you recommend
That's Ubuntu. 12.10, right now, FI, is still buggy as all Hell. It's an artifact of their development cycle (megafreeze + latest updates).

Try Debian 64-bit, or any number of rolling release distros. I've been running 64-bit Linux since 2007 (C2D upgrade), with nary a 64-bit problem.
 

zoiks

Lifer
Jan 13, 2000
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I'm using 12.10 and it's rock solid. No bugginess whatsoever. I used 12.04 and now 12.10 as my main OS.
 

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
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thanks everyone. i just got mint 64 bit and its fine. im surprised that it seems to take up twice as much memory (about 2 gigs vs 1 gig for 32 bit)
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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just using the system monitor. i guess memory usage goes up and down a lot. 32 bit never used 2 gigs. right now ive got one chrome window open with six tabs and im using over a gig

Yea, you can't just go by that. That will likely included the disk cache and everything so it'll vary heavily based upon usage and such. 64-bit binaries use more memory, but not double.