32 bit application support in 64 bit SL 6, 32 bit application support in 64 bit SL

[RalphEllis]

SL 6 64bit does not ship with 32 bit application support but there are ways to add it if you need a particular 32 bit application. In my case, I like to use Lotus Symphony office suite and this is only available as a 32 bit rpm file. Lotus Symphony handles complicated Microsoft Word formatting better than OpenOffice or LibreOffice.

The information here is taken from:

http://www.metztli-it.com/blog/blog12.php/providing-32-bit-application-support-und

The only change that you have to make to the instructions is edit the metztli-Fedora_agnostic-ia32-libs.text file to replace 386 with 686. For the lazy, here is the edited file:

arts.i686
audiofile.i686
bzip2-libs.i686
cairo.i686
compat-expat1-1.95.8-4.i686
compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-63.i686
compiz.i686
cyrus-sasl-lib.i686
dbus-libs.i686
directfb.i686
esound-libs.i686
fltk.i686
freeglut.i686
gphoto2.i686
gtk2.i686
hal-libs.i686
imlib.i686
jack-audio-connection-kit.1.i686
java.i686
lcms-libs.i686
lesstif.i686
libacl.i686
libaio-0.3.106-4.2.i686
libao.i686
libattr.i686
libcap.i686
libdrm.i686
libexif.i686
libgcrypt-1.4.0-3.i686
libgnomecanvas.i686
libICE.i686
libieee1284.i686
libsigc++20.i686
libSM.i686
libtool-ltdl.i686
libusb.i686
libwmf.i686
libwmf-lite.i686
libX11.i686
libXau.i686
libXaw.i686
libXcomposite.i686
libXdamage.i686
libXdmcp.i686
libXext.i686
libXfixes.i686
libxkbfile.i686
libxml2.i686
libXmu.i686
libXp.i686
libXpm.i686
libXScrnSaver.i686
libxslt.i686
libXt.i686
libXTrap.i686
libXtst.i686
libXv.i686
libXxf86vm.i686
lzo.i686
mesa-libGL.i686
mesa-libGLU.i686
nas-libs.i686
nss_ldap.i686
opencdk.i686
openldap.i686
pam.i686
popt.i686
pulseaudio-libs.i686
sane-backends-libs-gphoto2.i686
sane-backends-libs.i686
SDL.i686
svgalib.i686
unixODBC.i686
zlib.i686

Save this file as metztli-Fedora_agnostic-ia32-libs.text and as root in a terminal, run the command

for i in $(< metztli-Fedora_agnostic-ia32-libs.text); do yum -y install $i; done

The installation will take some time but it will allow you to run 32 bit rpms.

Why would you not want to do this? Having a 64 bit only system gives you a cleaner and less complicated operating system with less chance of conflicts or difficulty updating your system. You have to weigh this versus the ability to use 32 bit applications.

[joutlan]

I myself won't hesitate to add 32 bit libraries if I need them. Thanks Ralph!!