AMD64 support in 5.x versions

[david]

Jem Matzan wrote:
> I've tried just about everything AMD64 in terms of operating systems,
> and I can say for certain that no one is anywhere near the level of
> functionality that their i386 arch is. Even SuSE and RedHat with their
> retail box AMD64 distros only offer limited AMD64 functionality. Gentoo
> will install but few things will compile properly. I'd consider FreeBSD
> and NetBSD further along than Gentoo at this point, except for the fact
> that Gentoo can update its source code and FreeBSD can't (without the
> special hacked CVSup).
> FreeBSD would be a step ahead of everyone else if IA32 binary
> compatibility worked.
> 
> -Jem

What do you mean by "limited AMD64 functionality"? I am looking into 
other forms of *nix due to the fact that linux compatibility is a must 
for the programs I will be running. Any other information you can 
provide pertaining to AMD64 + linux compatibility would be very useful.

David