install extra ix86 packages after system installation

[Gene Czarcinski]

On Monday 22 March 2004 17:14, Florian La Roche wrote:
> > Agreed but I don't think Redhat is going to go to the trouble of
> > repackaging all the i386 packages so the install cleanly on a x86_64
> > system just on the chance that someone might want to install it.
>
> The number of *.i386.rpm packages we distribute is already pretty large
> and if you have specific needs for more libs I'd like to hear what they
> are and for what they are needed.
>
> Also if those *.i386.rpm packages are already shipped for the x86 product
> it is not a too big step to also add them into the x86_64 product.

Maybe, maybe not ... SuSE currently ships "lots" of ix86 packages with their 
x86_64 distribution  ... but then their distribution ships on two DVDs 
(actually a dual sided DVD).  The Fedora Core target (and from what I can see 
RHEL also) is a single DVD for both binary and source.  To simply add all 
ix86 packages which have libraries and could be used by some application does 
not appear reasonable (IMHO).

>From my perspective, a better solution (no not one I consider 
reasonable/acceptable either) is to feed the i386 cdroms into the x86_64 
install process ... but this would (I believe) unnecessarily complicate the 
install process for just one platform.

The real question is just how much need is there (by users) to actually run 
both 64-bit and 32-bit applications on the same operating system.  I have FC1 
x86_64 running but want to run galeon also (I prefer it).  Galeon requires 
some of the mozilla libraries (currently 32 bit on FC1) but also requires a 
whole bunch of other packages (a real bowl of spaghetti when you start 
looking at the dependency tree).

The best approach is to have all of the packages with binary programs split 
but, even if Red Hat agreed to do that, it would take a long time to 
accomplish.

Maybe Justin's suggestion of specially built packages in Fedora Extras or 
something is about the only solution ... either that or doing what I did with 
instally the ix86 package and then reinstalling the x86_64 package.  Both of 
these will work and not impact the work of Red Hat or others.  However, they 
are both major efforts in their own right and could easily screw up a system.

Yet another approach ... user community effort to build a distribution which 
does things like SuSE.  This is not silver bullet either since it does not 
solve the problem of installing an ix86 package post system installation.

Oh well, maybe someone can enhance yum/up2date so that if you install a new 
ix86 package and the "same" package is installed as x86_64, then the x86_64 
package would be re-installed.

Gene