Re: Windows emacs-25.1 i686 vs x86_64?

[David M. Miller]

On Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 11:32:42 AM UTC-4, David M. Miller wrote:
> When I went to download 25.1 for windows I saw two packages on the main GNU 
> ftp server:
> 
>     emacs-25.1-i686-w64-mingw32.zip
>      - AND -
>     emacs-25.1-x86_64-w64-mingw32.zip
> 
> but no explanation of the difference between them in the README file.
> 
> Also, there seems to be a separate package of "deps" for each:
> 
>     emacs-25-i686-deps.zip
>      - AND -
>     emacs-25-x86_64-deps.zip
> 
> the need for which is also not explained anywhere (dependencies? dependencies 
> for what?).
> 
> Does anyone know what the difference between the i686 and x86_64 packages are?
> Does anyone know what the "deps" packages are for?
> 
> Thanks,
> David

After examining both main emacs packages, I think I figured out the obscure 
naming conventions: 'i686' refers to the 32-bit version, while 'x86_64' refers 
to the 64-bit version. So this answers my first question.

I have no intention of doing so, but I still wonder whether the "deps" package 
is intended for *BUILDING* emacs, or if it provides runtime binary support for 
some of the more obscure elisp facilities.