On 01/05/2017 01:26 PM, Josh Boyer wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 5, 2017 at 11:25 AM, Stephen Gallagher <sgall...@redhat.com>
> wrote:
>> On 01/05/2017 11:17 AM, Tom Hughes wrote:
>>> On 05/01/17 16:03, Stephen Gallagher wrote:
>>>
>>>> For many years, Fedora has supported multilib by carrying
>>>> parallel-installable
>>>> libraries in /usr/lib[64]. This was necessary for a very long time in
>>>> order to
>>>> support 32-bit applications running on a 64-bit deployment. However, in
>>>> today's
>>>> new container world, there is a whole new option.
>>> You may be living in a "new container world" but that doesn't mean the rest
>>> of
>>> us (or our users) are.
>>>
>> By "new container world" I meant "a world where containers exist and can
>> offer a
>> complete 32-bit runtime" rather than a hacked-in multilib runtime.
>>
>>>> I'd like to propose that we consider moving away from our traditional
>>>> approach
>>>> to multilib in favor of recommending the use of a 32-bit container runtime
>>>> when
>>>> needed on a 64-bit host.
>>> On the face of it it sounds like a terrible idea but perhaps I have
>>> misunderstood the consequences.
>>>
>>> Can you explain what this would actually mean for an average software
>>> developer
>>> trying to build a 32 bit program?
>>>
>>> Take for example my day job where I'm developing a proprietary application
>>> on a
>>> Fedora workstation. Now mostly I use a 64 bit build of the software but we
>>> have
>>> a few databases we support where the vendor doesn't provide 64 bit
>>> libraries so
>>> I have to use a 32 bit build.
>>>
>>> Would this mean I had to do some special dance to enter a container
>>> environment
>>> in order to work with a 32 bit build rather than just telling our build
>>> scripts
>>> to use "gcc -m32" when compiling?
>>>
>> Building of software shouldn't be changed at all in most cases. The main
>> difference would be installation/deployment. The idea would be that instead
>> of
>> the 32-bit and 64-bit runtimes being installed directly in parallel on the
>> base
>> system, they would instead be installed into effectively a chroot with its
>> own
>> completely 32-bit runtime.
> You just described a fundamental change to how people would need to
> build 32-bit applications locally. They don't have to install a
> VM/chroot to do that today, they would in a containerized multilib
> solution. I don't think it's fair to claim "Building of software
> shouldn't be changed at all in most cases" with this proposal.
>
> Remember, not all software is built in mock or even as RPMs. End user
> software developers will be impacted by the removal of existing
> multilib.
>
> josh
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Sadly will we be hearing these same arguments 10 years from now...
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