On Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 01:27:12PM +0200, Bert Freudenberg wrote:
IMHO the hint on top of
http://www.squeakvm.org/squeak64/
is far too subtle. It needs to be made very clear that people who just want a 64 bit Squeak VM for their 64 bit system need to compile the *regular* Squeak VM sources. In contrast, the "squeak64" page is for people who want to experiment with "64 bit images" which are *incompatible* with all the other Squeak images currently in use.
How about this:
"NOTE: 64-bit support has been integrated into the regular Squeak VM sources. To compile a VM for your 64 bit machine, go to <...>. This page is about experimental support of 64 bit images. Please refer to the <FAQ> to find out about 64-bit images."
Well, kinda. The 64-bit support is not 100% integrated into the VM, and there is no "<...>" page (other than Mantis). Also, anybody who wants to work with 64-bit images should use exactly the same VM sources as the rest of us. The only actual difference is one line in a header file, which is set by clicking on the "64 bit VM?" checkbox on the VMMakerTool.
The initial 64-bit development was done by Dan and Ian back in 2004, and was generously handed over to the community at that time. Expectations should be adjusted accordingly.
I certainly do agree with your point, this is all very confusing to a VM builder who might prefer to just type "./configure; make" and be done with it.
Dave