Re: Compiling in 64 bits

[David Haworth <dave at fen-net dot de>]

Hi Keith,

On Thu, Mar 06, 2008 at 10:53:10AM -0800, Keith Seitz wrote:
> That is, of course, my fault (and I apologize): I do tend to make random 
> disappearances depending on what is happening with my work load. But I now 
> have access to an x86_64 box of my (wife's) very own, so I'll try to take a 
> look at this tonight.

What I said wasn't intended as criticism, so I'm sorry if it sounded like
that. I think those of us who run 64-bit Linux are aware that it's
still bleeding-edge. Yes, the mainstream stuff works OK, but stray a little
from the beaten track and you start finding programs that won't run, or that
appreas to run perfectly well but refuse to open perfectly good files,
claiming that they are not in the correct format. The usual culprit for
the former is an assumption that a pointer is 32-bits, for the latter that
a long is 32-bits.
I'm also aware that not everyone has access to an amd64 machine, and even
those who do may find that it has a 32-bit linux installed.

I did try (briefly) to fix the problems. I got rid of all the
compiler errors by careful type-changes and casts, but the GUI part
simply won't run. I fear there may be deeper problems in the tcl/tk
package. I recall you mentioning recently that insight has an old verison
of tcl/tk built-in and that you intended to try to get rid of it
and use a normal version. I have a feeling that supporting amd64
might force the issue :-O

Dave