[OpenIndiana-discuss] oracle removes 32bit x86 cpu support for solaris 11 will OI do same?

[Richard L. Hamilton]

32-bit still makes sense for an appliance.  Unless you're seriously
_poor_, I don't see that it matters if it won't run on some old
dumpster diving relic.

And a point against it: UFS root support is also said to be going
away.  That means ZFS root instead.  And ZFS is really happier if
you have lots of memory.  Yes, it's running now on 32-bit, but
I bet it's not being pushed really hard with lots of data.

Keeping it would be a divergence large enough to make further
divergence almost inevitable, too.  Which leads to the point that
I'd rather defer something like that until we see whether Oracle
dumps some more code over the wall after Solaris 11 is no
longer "Express" (beta).  They had said that they'd basically sit
on code until there was a commercial product, so that competitors
weren't profiting from their work before they were.  If they stick to
that, then staying reasonable close will be possible, if more tedious
than if they were more participatory in their approach.  If they fail
to stick to that, then aside from being liars (or not following
through, if you want a less charged description), there wouldn't be
much point to worrying about what they were doing anyway, aside
from trying to keep the ABI and on-disk structures compatible at
some common subset of features, and maybe trying to limit or manage
other application and user-visible divergence.

On Jun 21, 2011, at 9:06 PM, Edward Martinez wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> Upgraded to OI 151 things for OI are looking better with each release.:-)
> I have a question, it appears Oracle has removed 32 bit hardware support for the x86 CPU for solaris 11.  so if oracle
> do release solaris code after solaris 11 is out, it will most likely only for 64bit only. so my question is if
> things do indeed go that way will OI continue 32bit support in future oi releases or do 64bit only to hold some compatibility with solaris 11 or will I have to toss out my Pentium m laptop along with other units.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>       Functionality:
> 
> 
>   * 32-bit Kernel click here to expand or collapse
> 
>         Support for the 32-bit only x86 hardware has been removed. Support for running 32-bit applications and libraries will continue
> 
>     http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/end-of-notices/eonsolaris11-392732.html
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