Why are still not at 64 bits

[Paul Lussier]

Jon 'maddog' Hall <maddog at li.org> writes:

> I think there is a strong analogy between why we do not have 64 bits
> everyplace, and why we still suffer with IPv4 instead of IPv6

Interesting, let's investigate that analogy further, keeping in mind
please, that I know next to nothing about software interactions with
hardware at this level :)

We still have IPv4 over IPv5 because:

  - IPv4 provides plenty of space once everyone realizes that all 5000
    of their internal systems do not need to be reachable by an actual,
    internet-routed IP address. (i.e. NAT has "saved the day")

  - IPv6 has taken forever and a day to get properly defined

  - IPv4 is intuitive and "makes sense" vs. IPv6 which is neither

  - It's a lot of effort to switch to a new addressing scheme.

So, what's keeping us from moving to 64 bits?

  - There is no NAT equivalent, nor is any really necessary, is there?
    Won't 32-bit apps continue to work on a 64-bit platform?

  - We don't have to wait for the technology to stabilize, it's been
    around for 20+ years (I'm assuming it was being researched for
    quite some time before DEC released the Alpha as a commercial
    product)

  - From an end-user perspective, do they need to care or know?  I
    guess if you define end-user to be application developer in this
    case, then the answer is yes.  Not being such a person, how much
    more difficult is it to develop a 64-bit app vs a 32? (I'm *not*
    talking about porting it, mind you).

  - Is it a lot of effort to switch to a new addressing scheme in this
    case?  What's to be done?  All major OSes have been ported and run
    on 64-bit platforms.

I guess my argument or rather confusion is this.  64-bits is here, has
been for a while, and is stable.  So why don't we see more of it?
It can't be just a matter of "32 bits is good enough".

-- 
Seeya,
Paul
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