First step towards a 64bit release of Icaros Desktop has been done:
HostBridge is working for Linux-hosted AROS x86-64: I can run Linux applications from Icaros Desktop, open projects with the command line and even Icaros 2.2.8's
hb command has been rebuilt for the 64bit environment. HostBridge, however, need also some 3rd party CLI programs which are not part of AROS:
gsar and
processicon, which I could compile with AROS build system thanks to the patient explanations from Kalamatee and the physical help of O1i, who fixed
processicon to let it work correctly with the new system. The only current limitation for 64bit HostBridge is the icon selection: I still miss the great
PictureReq utility, but I hope to get this done as well. In the meanwhile, I will use a standard file requester, altough an image selector would be preferable.
You might wonder why I decided to start with HostBridge. Well, in my opinion, it makes sense. AROS 64 is still lacking most of its 32 bit counterparts: there is no browser, no media player, no spreadsheet, no picture viewer... and while we're waiting for all of them, I guess it would be good to have a quick temporary replacement, using host apps instead. Moreover, in the beginning, Icaros 64 will be likely used in hosted environments, to become progressively more viable as a native alternative when more programs will be available, and ABI finally stabilized.
