Steve Snyder wrote:
I just installed the x86_64 build of Fedora 8. This is my first ever
experience with x86_64 Linux as I haven't had the hardware before now.
I'm amazed at the number of duplicate packages installed. My total of
2096 packages installed includes 417 i386 and 2 i686 packages, all of
which duplicate an existing x86_64 packages.
I understand that some applications don't play nicely when built for
64-bit pointers, but is it really necessary to have all these
compatibility libraries just for those few apps?
It depends. If you want to use 3rd-party browser plugins that are only
available for 32-bit firefox, you need the plethora of libraries and
their dependencies required to support it. Plenty of other 32-bit apps
can cause this dependency cascade as well, so the installer just gives
you both versions of most libraries.
Personally, I do the following after installing a 64-bit system:
yum remove *.i386
yum install yum-basearchonly
And everything works just fine.
-- Chris
