SDL 3.1.3 Stable ABI Preview Release

[Developer12]

I consider making it 64-bit to be much more important at this point.

This it totally pointless. You are *never* going to be able to drop 32-bit libraries when running steam in any useful capacity, even if the steam client itself is 100% 64-bit.

Damn near every single game on steam *requires* 32-bit libraries, and that won't change until windows stops shipping them some time around the heat death of the universe.

[billyswong]

It's not that simple. 32-bit x86 binaries on Linux is built around a 32-bit time_t. Some distros are trying to deal with that by switching to 64-bit, but it breaks compatibility all over the place. It generally requires everything to be rebuilt. See this very recent blog post.

So eventually old 32-bit proprietary binaries will need to run in a container/VM with fake clock time supplied to them

[Chewi]

So eventually old 32-bit proprietary binaries will need to run in a container/VM with fake clock time supplied to them

The relatively new time namespace feature in the kernel might suffice, although I've heard file timestamps can still be an issue. I haven't tried this yet. None of that helps the Steam client though. It's communicating with the outside world, so it needs to know what the real time is.

[Chewi]

This it totally pointless. You are *never* going to be able to drop 32-bit libraries when running steam in any useful capacity, even if the steam client itself is 100% 64-bit.

Damn near every single game on steam *requires* 32-bit libraries, and that won't change until windows stops shipping them some time around the heat death of the universe.

Did you even read the rest of the thread? I didn't say anything about dropping 32-bit libraries because you're right about the games, but Steam itself still needs to go 64-bit.

It's not like I'm making all this up either. I know from a reliable source that Valve was looking into this over 4 years ago. It's a shame it's taken this long.

[Chewi]

I should add that you can't really argue this based on what they're doing on Windows because even 32-bit Windows installations don't have this problem. This was dealt with when they fixed the millennium bug.

[kpedersen]

Damn near every single game on steam *requires* 32-bit libraries, and that won't change until windows stops shipping them some time around the heat death of the universe.

I believe the x86_64 arch is going to drop its 32-bit support from the hardware level. This will probably be within the next decade rendering Microsoft's WoW64 redundant.

What we will probably see is something like qemu-static-i386 or plex (the same tech allowing x86* binaries to run on Arm). This is quite a nice middleground compared to the mixed architecture userland that Linux is currently using.

[Developer12]

I believe the x86_64 arch is going to drop its 32-bit support from the hardware level. This will probably be within the next decade rendering Microsoft's WoW64 redundant.

What we will probably see is something like qemu-static-i386 or plex (the same tech allowing x86* binaries to run on Arm). This is quite a nice middleground compared to the mixed architecture userland that Linux is currently using.

No.

You can't drop support for 32 bit binaries. This isn't ARM where the 32 bit instruction set is separate. x86_64 is a strict superset of x86, you literally can't write ANYTHING without using an instruction from x86.

What they're dropping is support for booting 32 bit OSs, which is an entirely different thing.

[Developer12]

Did you even read the rest of the thread? I didn't say anything about dropping 32-bit libraries because you're right about the games, but Steam itself still needs to go 64-bit.

It's not like I'm making all this up either. I know from a reliable source that Valve was looking into this over 4 years ago. It's a shame it's taken this long.

I'm here to tell you that steam going 64-bit is completely pointless. Read my post.

[kpedersen]

No.

You can't drop support for 32 bit binaries.

Referring to this. They can. Or at least protected mode 32-bit.

Edit: Yes, true, this still does support 32-bit binaries.

[Weasel]

Referring to this. They can. Or at least protected mode 32-bit.

Edit: Yes, true, this still does support 32-bit binaries.

That's about the OS itself being 32-bit. Stop spreading bullshit you've no idea what you're talking about.

If you can run 64-bit apps right now you're using a 64-bit OS already so that does not apply to you. Yet, you can still run 32-bit apps.