Re: redhat abe

[Panu Matilainen <pmatilai welho com>]

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005, Axel Thimm wrote:

> On Fri, Jan 28, 2005 at 05:33:25PM +0200, Panu Matilainen wrote:
> > > There is a simple patch by the CERN folks used for ia64 by spliting
> > > apt's processing of i386 and ia64 into different package worlds (in
> > > apt-rpm's archives). Can that be used as for an initial multilib
> > > approach?
> >
> > Ugh, no thanks. Feel free to patch your version of apt with it, but from
> > my POV it's just too ugly to live with.
>
> Well, uglyness is the essence of coding. ;)
>
> But, seriously, would that patch do its job and get apt up to multilib?

Not IMHO. It's just an ugly workaround to hide 32bit packages from apt 
making apt rather useless in many ways.  I rather have no multilib than 
a totally broken support for it. The might work for somebodys purposes but 
not mine :)

> > > apt's lack of multilib is a PITA, but you must also consider that
> > > apt's development community has only one member coming from the
> > > multilib world, the masochist sharing Panu's mail address ... ;)
> >
> > ...and even I'm not really from "multilib world" since I don't have x86_64
> > boxes at home. My next system is going to be that but whether it happens
> > this year, next year or the one after that I dunno :)
>
> OK, then apt has no developer that could look after multilib
> support. No wonder that it is still not there (and will probably never
> make it). It's a catch22 (FC does not support apt, because apt has no
> multilib, and apt has no multilib, because FC has no (multilib)
> developers assigned to it :)

Indeed... :-/

> Thankfully yum and smart are growing fast enough to fill the gap in
> 64bit world.

..and both are implemented in a sane language which people can actually 
understand, unlike C++ :)

	- Panu -