Multilib

Multilib is one of the solutions allowing users to run applications built for various ABIs of the same architecture. The most common use of multilib is to run 32-bit applications on amd64.

The multilib systems use separate library directories for non-native ABIs. This allows having the same library installed in variants for each ABI, as necessary to satisfy the dependencies of programs built for the ABI in question.

multilib library providers in Gentoo
There are currently three ways of providing multilib libraries in Gentoo:


 * using emul-linux-x86 packages (32-bit libraries for amd64 only),
 * using the eclasses provided by the gx86-multilib project,
 * using the multilib-portage fork.

Comparison of multilib approaches
Note: the table explains the current state as of 2013-11-16. It doesn't imply any limitations on further developments.