I anticipate wanting to run some Linux applications on my Librem 5 (after it arrives), that were compiled to run on x86.
Some programs just don’t get compiled to run on ARM64. I called Oracle once looking for a compiler for ARM64. They wanted to know everything about my employer and what the compiler would be used for. When they found out I didn’t represent my employer and it was just for me, they found a polite way to tell me to get lost.
This was several years ago. I found a compatability layer called Exagar then. It is no longer sold now. But back then, it was sure convenient. On a rooted phone in a Linux chroot terminal window with Exagear installed, I could type-in “arch” which returned “ARM64”. Then I would type-in “Exagear”, and could then type-in “arch” which would return “i386”. When in i386 mode, I could install and run PC programs (on my phone). When in “ARM64” mode, I could install and run ARM programs. It was really easy to go back and forth and use either instruction set. I built my i386 program shortcut scripts to invoke Exagar first, before execution. Both instruction sets lived next to eachother on that phone and both worked equally.
Does a similar tool exist currently, that will work well on the Librem 5? Is there a free and easy way to get ARM compiler available anywhere? The way Oracle acts, one would think it’s illegal to compile an ARM program without their permission. And they only want to deal with big companies. I got the impression that that Exagear guy (apparently a one-man company somewhere in Europe) likely got driven out of business by lawyers. He seemed happy, very communicative, and was doing a good amount of business until one day he just shut down without saying why.