32 or 64 bit

On 2012-05-04, Rinaldi J. Montessi wrote:

Having said that, I am curious as to whether or not there would be any
benefits to converting to 64.

The main benefits are if you need to allow single processes to address
more than 4GB of memory (I don't recall the exact number). While a
32bit kernel can use more memory than that, no one process can. IME
this is the most common reason for people converting. (I've had
processes as large as 60GB, so I have needed a 64bit kernel for some
time.)

I think that there are some performance benefits, but I have never
benchmarked them myself. From what I have read they are generally minor
except for certain specialized computations.

If I should choose to do so, would it require a complete wiping of the
current root system and installing from a 64 bit iso, or could I simply
install a new 64 bit smp (yes, Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8300 @
2.50GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux) kernel and update/upgrade appropriate
packages?

The former is certainly safer, but IIRC Slackware64 keeps 64 bit
libraries separate from 32bit, so you should be relatively safe simply
adding the 64bit software you need. Since your /home is separate from
your OS, it can't hurt to try the second option, and if it screws up
wipe and start over. I think the main obstacles you'll have is making
sure you install all the right dependencies, especially if you use a
dependency-heavy program like KDE.




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