Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: "Boyd Stephen Smith Jr." <bss03@××××××××××.net>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Semi OT: 64 bit processors, the Linux Kernel, and x86 Gentoo.
Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 11:13:41
Message-Id: 200705250608.07606.bss03@volumehost.net
In Reply to: RE: [gentoo-user] Semi OT: 64 bit processors, the Linux Kernel, and x86 Gentoo. by burlingk@cv63.navy.mil
1 On Friday 25 May 2007 04:53:26 burlingk@×××××××××.mil wrote:
2 > What makes the difference between a 64 bit kernel, and a 32 bit kernel?
3
4 Use of 64-bit machine code [*], particularly instructions that make use of
5 64-bit native[**] registers[***].
6
7 * Defining this is more difficult, since that does not mean instruction
8 requiring 64-bits to represent as many architectures have variable length
9 instructions.
10
11 ** Native is a difficult term to define, but I'm explicitly excluding the
12 floating-point registers that have been 64-bit or 80-bit from my vague notion
13 of native
14
15 *** I guess this makes the Cell processor 128-bit? BTW, if the
16 term "register" doesn't mean anything to you it's the fastest memory in your
17 computer, closer to the ALU (etc.) than L1 cache, very small and expensive
18 that are addressed differently than all other memory.
19
20 --
21 Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. ,= ,-_-. =.
22 bss03@××××××××××.net ((_/)o o(\_))
23 ICQ: 514984 YM/AIM: DaTwinkDaddy `-'(. .)`-'
24 http://iguanasuicide.org/ \_/

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