Subj : enigma on M68K linux
To   : vorlon
From : Oli
Date : Sun Jan 15 2023 02:29 pm

vorlon wrote (2023-01-15):

 v> Hi Oli,

 >> Are these external dependencies? Why are there -m32 parameters in the
 >> make files in the first place? Is this a problem of packaging or is it
 >> a nodejs m68k bug?

 v> I think you'll find it just the way node.js is put together. Even though
 v> the platform list contains a range of Architectures, the list mainly
 v> contains intel based cpu's with some arm/ppc.

 v> https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#platform-list

 v> There is also this statement: "For production applications, run Node.js on
 v> supported platforms only."

Debian has the nodejs package only for

amd64, i386
arm64, armel, armhf
mips64el, mipsel
ppc64, ppc64el
riscv64
s390x

I assumed nodejs is C++ software that would compile on any Linux arch, but I guess the V8 Javascript engine does some low-level stuff that needs be ported to every CPU architecture. The V8 Website mentions: x86, Arm, MIPS, PPC64, s390, RISC-V and Loong64. Not much support for legacy or big-endian platforms.

Maybe it's somehow possible to get it running, but I haven't found a package in Linux distros or NetBSD old or non-mainstream CPUs. No old Mac PowerPC, m68k, Arm or MIPS big-endian.

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