Re: Multi-arch

["Ludovic Brenta" <ludovic@ludovic-brenta.org>]

Björn Persson a écrit :
> Is multi-arch useful in an altogether free system in some way that eludes me?

Yes.

Today, for example, OpenOffice works only on 32-bit architectures; if
you want to run it on an amd64 machine, you need biarch or multiarch.
There are probably other cases where compiling for one of the
architectures in a multi-arch system is problematic.

Also, 32-bit binaries use less memory than 64-bit binaries do. It makes
sense to run 32-bit binaries on 64-bit machines, if those binaries do
not benefit from the larger address space or 64-bit instructions.

Another benefit of multiarch is that you can e.g. compile i386 binaries
on an amd64 machine and run them on i386 machines.

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.