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Re: x86 is stone age, how about moving along ?

From: Mircea Zahan <mzahan_at_adaptive.ro>
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:31:43 +0200

> On Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 10:23, Mircea Zahan <mzahan_at_adaptive.ro> wrote:
>> Well now, for someone proficient with a programming language,
>> recompiling sources for just another flavor of Windows should be
>> a task of what ... a few minutes ?
>
> Plus testing. Or do you think that person would be comfortable with
> releasing binaries and then answering any/all bugs that arise with
> "well, I didn't bother testing"? These aren't anonymous releases.

I get your point, that did not cross my mind. But I myslef could live,
for the time being, with some binaries compiled with "use it at your own risk"
option :) At least that would be a start.
 
> Are you certain that there's nothing that would need to be tweaked in
> the source code for a 64-bit environment?

No, I am not. As I already said, I do not master C/C++. But from
a Delphi programmer's point of view, compiling for x64 is just a
matter of changing a compiler option. Maybe that's not the case
with C/C++, but I can hardly imagine what would need to be
tweaked except the target platform.

>
> I don't know whether it's possible to compile Windows 64-bit binaries
> on 32-bit Windows. If it's not, then it becomes a matter of cost as
> well - if the volunteers who are doing this don't have 64-bit
> hardware, they'll have to buy a system. And by extension, a copy of
> 64-bit Windows too. So now it's a matter of at least $500 for a
> single-purpose machine to compile a few releases a year on a
> *volunteer* basis.

64 hardware has emerged since more than 4 years. Nowadays one
has to do some serious digging to find a 32 bit system on store shelfs.
I doubt that a 64 bit hardware is an investment problem, as most people
have already did that investment.

>
> Did 64-bit Windows change significantly between Windows XP x64 and
> future releases (2003 Server, 2008 Server, Vista 64)? If so, which
> releases do you actually support?

We are talking about an application which uses TCP/IP and file access functions,
not some exotic API. I'm pretty sure nothing has changed in that matter.
Even more, the code is written (or it should be) using, if I remember well,
the network/file access function from C libraries, which provide transparency,
hidding API details and OS flavor differences.

>
>> I am not proficient with C(++?)
>> but I do posess knowledge in Delphi. So it happens to know a
>> little about the big picture.
>>
>> I don't think it's a matter of time or cost, it's just a matter of wanting
>> to do it.
>
> No here will stop you from doing it. The present Windows volunteers
> have not yet seen a need to do so. I have yet to see anyone post a
> reason for doing it beyond "I don't want a 32-bit application
> infecting my pure 64-bit environment" on this mailing list. The 32-bit
> client works fine on 64-bit Windows, so where is the true value in
> taking the time & expense of recompiling? How many people are still
> using 32-bit JVMs on 64-bit OSes (quite a few, I imagine)?
>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andy Levy" <andy.levy_at_gmail.com>
>> To: "Mircea Zahan" <mzahan_at_adaptive.ro>
>> Cc: <users_at_subversion.tigris.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 1:43 PM
>> Subject: Re: x86 is stone age, how about moving along ?
>>
>>
>>> On Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 05:32, Mircea Zahan <mzahan_at_adaptive.ro> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hello everybody,
>>>>
>>>> Is there any chance for you to publish x64 version of Subversion's
>>>> binaries
>>>> for Windows?
>>>> Please don't reply with something like "get the sources and compile it",
>>>> not
>>>> everyone is proficient
>>>> with C programming/compiling.
>>>>
>>>> I know the existing binaries do work on x64, but I want to have a pure
>>>> x64
>>>> environment.
>>>> At this very moment the SVN server is the only x86 application running on
>>>> our server.
>>>>
>>>> Every major server of any kind already has x64 binaries, yours doesn't.
>>>> It's
>>>> dissapointing for
>>>> such a marvelous piece of software.
>>>
>>> Binary packages, especially the ones for Windows and all the ones not
>>> offered by companies, are done by *volunteers*. Their schedules may
>>> not allow for it, or they may not have access to the required systems
>>> to do it.
>>>
>>> If you're looking for a company to do it, they need to see a financial
>>> incentive for it. CollabNet sells support for Subversion and they
>>> haven't (apparently) seen enough reason to justify the cost yet.
>>

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Received on 2008-11-30 21:32:08 CET

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