[Ma-linux] Migrating from 32-bit to 64-bit Ubuntu

[Keith Bennett]

Hi, all.

I'm getting a new VM at work with more memory than can be handled by a 
32-bit OS, and want to install 64-bit Ubuntu.  I have some questions...

To save time, I'd like to copy the information as to which software I 
have installed with apt-get/synaptic.  I found this page that shows a 
simple way to do this using dpkg's --get-selections and --set-selections 
arguments:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=261366

However, I'm concerned that installing the 32-bit versions on the 64-bit 
OS might screw something up.  I'm aware that the 64-bit OS can run the 
32-bit software, but am wondering if it might do some other damage 
regarding configuration, dependencies, etc.  Could it?  I grepped the 
output of the installed packages and found the following entries 
containing "32":

ia32-libs                                       install
lib32asound2                                    install
lib32gcc1                                       install
lib32ncurses5                                   install
lib32stdc++6                                    install
lib32z1                                         install

Would the 64-bit version of these be installed by the OS install so that 
the 32 bit versions are ignored?  Or should I remove these from the 
set-install list?  And, if so, am I missing anything important that 
doesn't happen to have 32 in the name?

Another question...would I be better off waiting until 9.10 comes out?  
I am assuming that 9.04 plus upgrades == 9.10...is that true?

Thanks for any help,
Keith Bennett