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Re: Linux limitations



On Sat, 22 May 1999 21:21:18 +0300 (IDT), Alex Shnitman <alexsh@hectic.net>
wrote:

>Nimrod Zimerman writes:
>
>[ RAM and filesize limited to 2GB ]
> > Note that on a 64bit platforms (Alpha, for example), both limitations
> > don't hold.
>
>FWIW: I remember reading in one of the LWNs, AFAIR, that actually
>Alpha Linux was limited to 1GB of RAM (!), and was recently patched to
>supost 2GB. The theoretical limit is obviously higher, but according
>to that the kernel still has a limitation. I'm sorry I don't provide a
>reference, but I really don't remember where I read that. This needs
>to be checked.

Also, not that I've ever used Linux on an Alpha (or used ANY Alpha machine),
but I find it hard to believe that the 2GB file size limit does not exist on
Alpha just because it's int's are 64 bits.
Havong a 64 bit file system is slightly more that changing a single field
size.
Not only that, but this would have caused incompatibility with removable media
between X86 and Alpha which we would have heard of.

udi