That's assuming that the footprint of libraries relative to
distinct
applications is large enough to cancel out the space savings. (I have no
data either way). A 64bit kernel doesn't need any 32bit userspace. An X
server, on my 32bit system has about 8.5MB of programme text (server and
libs) and loads about another 1.5MB worth of modules itself, i.e. 10MB.
Regarding shared libraries its worth noting the point about
"Instruction pointer relative data access":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64#Architectural_features
Cheers,
Debarshi
--
One reason that life is complex is that it has a real part and an
imaginary part.
-- Andrew Koenig