Turing Uncomplete

Last night I began installing Arch x86_64, I made a big list of all packages I had installed on Arch i686, marked whether they were in the AUR or not, then checked that all the AUR packages worked on Arch x86_64, I only found two that just don’t support x86_64 (savage and flashplugin-beta), and two that failed somewhere in installation (planeshift and vlc-git). Once I get these ‘problems’ worked out I’ll remove Arch i686, shuffle my partitions around a bit (such as moving /var to a separate partition) and this machine will be completely 64bit! I expected much more trouble getting it to work to be honest, but it was just a case of installing the packages I need from base-devel, making a big list of packages, and leaving yaourt running overnight to install them all. I also copied my entire home folder and several files in /etc so I barely had to configure anything.

I have yet to notice a performance difference with x86_64, but I am compiling packages currently, so a performance increase now would be amazing. I’m sure I’ll notice the difference when I get around to ripping all of my DVDs. I have also yet to see that all my hardware works, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t, the things that worked in i686 worked out of the box (except media keys and volume wheel, both of which I have working here), and the things that didn’t just refused to work (ie: webcam, microphone, infrared, and one of the media keys).

I admit I was mistaken. 64bit on Linux is mature and without any major problems! Now, to wait until my 64bit-using friend comes online to instruct me as to the mysteries of Flash, and running 32bit programs on 64bit Arch…