LMDE when 64bit?

Archived topics about LMDE 1 and LMDE 2
Locked
M3nt0r3

LMDE when 64bit?

Post by M3nt0r3 »

I am waiting for a 64bit version of LMDE.
Is there a roadmap to read?
Is there a date planned from developers?
Do you suggest to wait or not ? It is a week, a month, five month?
Can i found a PAE kernel instead?

I think an official answer could be good.

Thanks
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
soreil

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by soreil »

From what I could conclude after reading the different announcements they are waiting for the new Stable release of Debian before making this decision. Correct me if I'm wrong.
M3nt0r3

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by M3nt0r3 »

i was thinking to install debian 64 bit and after switch to mint debian. If it is true 100% compatibility i think it is possible. or not?
vincent

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by vincent »

I installed Debian Testing 64-bit from a Debian netinst CD, then proceeded to add Mint's repo to it, and tweak it to my liking. Debian itself is pretty bare-bones, so "tweaking" it can take a long time (you'll be adding a lot of extra packages before it approaches anywhere near the functionality that LMDE provides), but it's pretty fun and since it's rolling release, you'll only have to do it once.
mmactyre

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by mmactyre »

From the LMDE page, question 5 on http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php:
Will it come in 64-bit? With KDE or other desktops?
The decision wasn't made yet. LMDE is an experiment. Although we're quite confident it will gain in popularity, we want to get an idea of how many users will switch to a Debian base before going further with it and bringing impacts to other editions. The idea of reaching the same level of functionality without using Ubuntu is quite challenging. It means there are missing pieces in the equation, components which need to be ported or re-written, and whether the pros outweight the cons, this is something we need to assess. A 32-bit Debian-based Gnome edition allows us to work on this with the community. When it's fully on par with the Main Edition and if there is a demand for it, further editions will come for LMDE.
Okay. I demand a 64-bit version. Seriously though, I don't know how the devs are going gage the demand for a 64-bit version. I would like a 64-bit version in order to be able to take advantage of my hardware.
vincent

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by vincent »

There's been a lot of demand on the blogs and the forums for a 64-bit version, as well as a LMDE with other desktop environments available (most popular alternative being KDE, of course). The thing is, LMDE is still quite rough around the edges, and right now, the Mint team has other priorities, e.g. preparing Mint 10 Julia (the version based on Ubuntu Maverick) for release. A lot of work still needs to go into the installer, as well as creating ports for popular packages such as the Hardware Drivers GUI (jockey-gtk) or usb-creator-gtk; the lack of similar packages was another very common complaint, as users couldn't figure out how to install proprietary drivers without having to refer to Debian's manual. It's a matter of balancing out priorities; what needs to be done first is to improve the overall user experience for those who are currently using LMDE 32-bit Gnome, before releasing the 64-bit version and versions with other DE's, otherwise users will keep on making the same complaints regarding LMDE. As for a 64-bit version, there are problems directly related to that too...Mint will have to somehow maintain their own 64-bit Firefox and Thunderbird, as upstream Mozilla only provides 32-bit Firefox and T-bird at the moment, and Debian has nothing else but outdated versions of Iceweasel and Icedove in their repositories.

The point is, there's a lot of work for the Mint team to do before LMDE 64-bit comes out; if you're really desperate for a 64-bit version of a Debian-based distribution, my advice (as stated above) is to just install Debian Testing on your own; if you can get it working, great, if not, then I'm sure you'll get to understand just how much work the Mint devs have to do to create a working and usable LMDE release.
cvillaco

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by cvillaco »

I'm in the lmde experiment and I would install 64 bit if it were available. So far my 32 bit experience is well, but I cant stay on 32 bit.
MintyFree

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by MintyFree »

Can LMDE64 come with Swiftfox so we can have a 64-bit browser also? And flash already installed since installing 64-bit flash is annoying and hard?
vincent

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by vincent »

LMDE (the 64-bit version) comes with 64-bit Firefox and 64-bit Flash by default. Don't believe me?

Code: Select all

vincent@vincent-laptop:~$ file /opt/firefox/firefox-bin
/opt/firefox/firefox-bin: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.15, stripped
Also, you can change Firefox into "Swiftfox" by changing some settings within about:config (that's pretty much all there is to it).
MintyFree

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by MintyFree »

vincent wrote:LMDE (the 64-bit version) comes with 64-bit Firefox and 64-bit Flash by default. Don't believe me?

Code: Select all

vincent@vincent-laptop:~$ file /opt/firefox/firefox-bin
/opt/firefox/firefox-bin: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.15, stripped
Also, you can change Firefox into "Swiftfox" by changing some settings within about:config (that's pretty much all there is to it).
64-bit firefox? Such a thing exists?!

INSTALLING NAO!
vincent

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by vincent »

Is 64-bit Firefox really that much of a big deal anyways? I mean, even before LMDE64 was released, you could always just compile Firefox yourself on a 64-bit system and end up with a native, 64-bit Firefox binary and associated libs. *shrugs*
DrHu

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by DrHu »

Well, it is available in Debian, and you could add the mint desktop options/themes
http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/

Now, as you know your hardware is sufficient for a 64bit installation, eg you have 4 or more GB of RAM
  • --unfortunately many people are suckered into using a 64bit OS with the minimum of 4GB of RAM, when a 32bit OS would be more than sufficient, and possibly better supported for web browsing etc..
Based on all those windows (win7) 64bit editions being installed on notebooks or the Mac OSX versions, there is no doubt a consumer need for a 64bit OS
--whether it is a demand or not is debatable, simply by being provided, does not make it either necessary nor truly useful for a majority of users
  • Those users that don't understand the 2x system resources needed or the fact that 4GB or more of RAM is necessary or that unless one is using high-resource applications, such as Photoshop, Maya, they would not need a 64bit supported OS, and if they are willing to take a hit for caching (of images, rendering) and so on, they can easily compute with only 32bits
    --assuming a lower speed processor or less than the minimum of 4GB of RAM or a weak graphics card
MintyFree

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by MintyFree »

LMDE is based on Squeeze, right?
GSXR750L

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by GSXR750L »

MintyFree wrote:LMDE is based on Squeeze, right?
Testing as far as I understand so whatever the release is called it always based on the testing version :!:

LMDE in brief

* Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) is a rolling distribution based on Debian Testing.
* It’s available in both 32 and 64-bit as a live DVD with a Gnome desktop.
* The purpose of LMDE is to look identical to the main edition and to provide the same functionality while using Debian as a base.
Transitman
Level 2
Level 2
Posts: 95
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:48 am

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by Transitman »

vincent wrote:Also, you can change Firefox into "Swiftfox" by changing some settings within about:config (that's pretty much all there is to it).
Care to explain the settings to change for those who might not know how.
MintyFree

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by MintyFree »

GSXR750L wrote:
MintyFree wrote:LMDE is based on Squeeze, right?
Testing as far as I understand so whatever the release is called it always based on the testing version :!:

LMDE in brief

* Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) is a rolling distribution based on Debian Testing.
* It’s available in both 32 and 64-bit as a live DVD with a Gnome desktop.
* The purpose of LMDE is to look identical to the main edition and to provide the same functionality while using Debian as a base.
Testing is currently Squeeze but it's in RC right now.
Transitman wrote:
vincent wrote:Also, you can change Firefox into "Swiftfox" by changing some settings within about:config (that's pretty much all there is to it).
Care to explain the settings to change for those who might not know how.
Ditto
vincent

Re: LMDE when 64bit?

Post by vincent »

Hmmm...I seem to be mistaken, it's not strictly just a bunch of about:config changes, although there is a small set of preferences that Swiftfox does change:
http://getswiftfox.com/source/swiftfox-3.6.13.patch

Aside from that, Swiftfox builds its optimized binaries by passing certain configure flags at build time. To see the exact changes, just type "about:buildconfig" in your URL bar in both Firefox and Swiftfox. But the difference isn't all that striking; the most notable would probably be the fact that Firefox is compiled with -Os (smallest binary size) while Swiftfox is compiled with -O3. However, there are also several other 3rd-party builds of Firefox which claim to be optimized, and from what I see, none of them use the exact same set of compiler flags. If you're interested in speeding up Firefox, you may be interested in analyzing them: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 2&t=863455
Locked

Return to “LMDE Archive”