Posted by: Graham Lee
on November 25, 2003 02:30 AM
So it can replace my Opteron 151 running 64-bit linux???
Yes, as you can see from inspecting the Linux source code, the kernel has supported ppc64 since at least 2.4.20, possibly earlier. And if we look over at the Yellow Dog Linux site, we see that although they currently do not ship a distribution for the G5, all of the necessary hardware is supported under Linux. Should make for a fun afternoon, building that lot.
Panther is 32-bit
No it isn't; Panther includes support for 64-bit memory addressing which allows each process to have a much bigger virtual memory slice than has been possible under any 32-bit OS, including previous versions of OS X (excepting 10.2.9, which also including 64-bit pointer support). You may be getting confused with Panther not supporting the 64-bit arithmetic and logic unit; this will come with time.
I don't really see the point of 64-bit Apple
Leaving aside the fact that processes may access a lot more temporary store with the 64-bit memory addressing, you may have noticed that not only did the bus width of the Apple machines change with the G4->G5 move, but so did the processor speed, the RAM capacity, the bus speeds, the RAM speed and a few other tweaks that don't readily spring to mind. So a 64-bit Apple machine would not only give you a future-proofed 64-bit CPU that can execute instructions from its 32-bit brothers, so that when a fully 64-bit kernel is ready you can just load it on, but it also gets you a much faster machine all round. Apple used to claim that the G5 was the "world's first 64-bit personal computer", and us UNIX users cried bullshit. They also claim it's the "world's fastest personal computer", and having used one I'd tentatively agree, although I've yet to see any fair benchmarking.
BTW if there's still any confusion about the hardware of the G5, check out <A HREF="http://www.apple.com/powermac/video/" TITLE="apple.com">this video</a apple.com>, looking for the bits by Jon Rubinstein (chief hardware engineer at NeXT, and now VP hardware at Apple).
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Re:Yeah, right
Posted by: Graham Lee on November 25, 2003 02:30 AMYes, as you can see from inspecting the Linux source code, the kernel has supported ppc64 since at least 2.4.20, possibly earlier. And if we look over at the Yellow Dog Linux site, we see that although they currently do not ship a distribution for the G5, all of the necessary hardware is supported under Linux. Should make for a fun afternoon, building that lot.
No it isn't; Panther includes support for 64-bit memory addressing which allows each process to have a much bigger virtual memory slice than has been possible under any 32-bit OS, including previous versions of OS X (excepting 10.2.9, which also including 64-bit pointer support). You may be getting confused with Panther not supporting the 64-bit arithmetic and logic unit; this will come with time.
Leaving aside the fact that processes may access a lot more temporary store with the 64-bit memory addressing, you may have noticed that not only did the bus width of the Apple machines change with the G4->G5 move, but so did the processor speed, the RAM capacity, the bus speeds, the RAM speed and a few other tweaks that don't readily spring to mind. So a 64-bit Apple machine would not only give you a future-proofed 64-bit CPU that can execute instructions from its 32-bit brothers, so that when a fully 64-bit kernel is ready you can just load it on, but it also gets you a much faster machine all round. Apple used to claim that the G5 was the "world's first 64-bit personal computer", and us UNIX users cried bullshit. They also claim it's the "world's fastest personal computer", and having used one I'd tentatively agree, although I've yet to see any fair benchmarking.
BTW if there's still any confusion about the hardware of the G5, check out <A HREF="http://www.apple.com/powermac/video/" TITLE="apple.com">this video</a apple.com>, looking for the bits by Jon Rubinstein (chief hardware engineer at NeXT, and now VP hardware at Apple).
FWIW no, I don't work for Apple.
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