On Sat, Aug 15, 2026 at 10:43:39AM +0100, Simon McVittie wrote: >.... > Build-Depends: > libbasic-dev, > libgui-dev <!partial-arch>, > > ... > > Package: foo-gui > Build-Profiles: <!partial-arch> >... > For example we could classify architectures into those where a GUI might be > practically useful (everything except s390x) and those where it isn't > (s390x), or those that could be useful for "heavy" CPU-bound computation > like scientific software (amd64, arm64) and those that most likely aren't > (riscv64, loong64).
Loongson is selling loong64 server CPUs with 64 cores (128 threads). riscv64 is not yet used in HPC, but work on that is ongoing.[1] Both architectures are pushed in China for technological independence. > As with any feature reduction, turning off packages per-architecture without > breaking dependencies needs to start from leaf packages, and work inwards > towards core packages. When people are discussing adding work, it is always useful to get a step back and ask how big the actual benefits would be - especially compared to the amount of work suggested. The major porting pain of i386 has been the excess precision of the x87, which goes away with a higher baseline. The major porting pain with s390x is that it is the only remaining non-ports big endian architecture, not that GUI parts are built. Building packages differently on different architectures has always been a source of breakages, trying to do the same on all architectures when reasonably possible is usually the option that requires the least work. > smcv cu Adrian [1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/405221610_Monte_Cimone_v3_Where_RISC-V_Stands_in_High-Performance_Computing
