[arch-general] gcc -m64

[Ciprian Dorin, Craciun]

On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 12:04 PM, Xavier <shiningxc at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 8:14 AM, Ciprian Dorin, Craciun
> <ciprian.craciun at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 3:13 AM, Sven-Hendrik Haase <sh at lutzhaase.com> wrote:
>>> Ciprian Dorin, Craciun wrote:
>>>>
>>>>    Hello all!
>>>>
>>>>    I have ArchLinux i686 version, but I'm trying to compile an x86_64
>>>> kernel... And you've guessed... Not supported by the ArchLinux stock
>>>> gcc / binutils...
>>>>
>>>>    I've done the "raining" dance, by trying to compile my own gcc /
>>>> binutils, but it didn't "rain" (I mean it didn't work)... Any
>>>> pointers?
>>>>
>>>>    Thanks,
>>>>    Ciprian.
>>>>
>>>>    P.S.: Is there any good reason for which there isn't even a
>>>> separate package of gcc that is able to do this? (I've read the bug
>>>> from one year ago, but no good reason was specified...)
>>>>    P.P.S.: I'm missing Debian...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Arch users generally prefer a clean 32bit/64bit chroot to a "dirty" system
>>> and have therefore developed tools to make chroot creation really
>>> convenient. You should try it too - get the devtools and try "mkarchroot".
>>>
>>> -- Sven-Hendrik
>>
>>    About the reason I've read it and somehow understood it. Also
>> mkarchroot is quite nice (in fact the reason I'm struggling with
>> kernel compilation is for a Vserver deployment)...
>>
>>    But back to the problem at hand: I cannot use a chrooted Linux,
>> because in order to use x86_64 packages I need a x86_64 enabled kernel
>> on my laptop (which I don't). So actually I need to cross-compile the
>> kernel.
>>
>>    Now I've seen that in the default repository we have gcc for
>> crosscompiling for arm. Why not one for x86_64?
>>
>>    Anyway thanks for the pointer of mkarchroot! (It would help me in
>> deployment of virtual servers.)
>>
>>    Ciprian.
>>
>
> Why do you want to build the kernel ? Arch already provides it ! All
> packages are provided in both i686 and x86_64
>
> http://allanmcrae.com/2009/06/using-an-x86_64-kernel-on-an-i686-userland/

    Good question. Well the reasons could be multiple:

    * first of all the real reason is that I want to compile an x86_64
kernel for one of my servers that I want to use as VServer hosting
target; but my laptop has ArchLinux i386, and I don't want to either
install x86_64 ArchLinux on my laptop, or on the server itself just to
be able to compile the kernel;

    * second cross-compiling is one of the basic operations one should
be able to do in an development environment;

    * third I believe that the real power of OSS / FOS (and therefore
also Linux based distributions), is that it allows you the flexibility
to customize things to match your liking; furthermore I've switched
from Debian (which also provided everything I needed and even more),
to ArchLinux (which provides almost everything I need), because I've
seen ArchLinux as a more suitable target for experimenting with Linux;
(I hope I'm not wrong!)

    By the way: I'me preparing three custom packages:
cross-x86_64-gcc-base, cross-x86_64-binutils, and cross-x86_64-glibc.
Anyone interested in them? Any ideeas if someone has already done
this?

    Ciprian.