Re: [PATCH 00/18] Make common x86 arch area for i386 and x86_64 - Take 2

[Andi Kleen]

> In the future it is likely that x86_64 will significantly deviate from 

It already is in some cases. And I agree more will happen.

> i386. i386 is going to be gradually abandoned because it does not support 
> the ever larger memory sizes and be mainly used for embedded devices. 

The desktop/server user base is quite conservative so that will take a long 
time, but gradually probably.

> x86_64 is going to acquire more functionality that will not be available 
> for i386. We plan f.e. to add virtual memmap support for x86_64. Virtual 

What advantage would that have over the current setup?
We already should handle holes between nodes reasonably efficiently
and with nonlinear memory even holes inside nodes shouldn't be a problem.

> memmap support may require a large chunk of virtual memory space that is 
> not available on i386. Its not good to have to deal with i386 issues when 
> doing x86_64 arch development.

If the great merged architecture ever happens this would be needed anyways.
Just basic 32bit support isn't too difficult anyways -- the problem 
are more the old bugs.

-Andi
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