On Fri, Sep 05, 2014 at 07:10:58PM +0100, Bat Phil wrote: > 1. I am using older hardware - AMD Semperon 3000+ (socket 754), which I > understand is a 64 bit CPU. Will this run better, worse or no differently > with the 64 bit OS over the 32 bit? 64 bit. This is mostly because the switch also enables some other CPU features (like more registers) which make a significant difference. It will take up a bit more RAM, but generally the other things make it worth it. > > 2. Currently I have 1Gb DDR400 RAM, although I have some 1Gb modules on > their way to me so within a few days I'll hopefully have 3Gb (but I may > have a dodgy DIMM socket so it might only be 2). Will I be able to do a > graphical install with only the current 1Gb or am I better waiting until > the new memory arrives? You can try and see. You'll definitely be happier with more. > 3. Am I correct in my assumption that my mail client (I will be using > Thunderbird) stores all its e-mails and settings in a hidden directory > within the home directory? Skipping this one because I'm not sure about Thunderbird. > 4. If I do a reinstall later, will the OS pick up that I already have the > home directory structure on a separate drive and automatically configure to > it or will I have to do a bit of tinkering? A bit of tweaking. But it's not hard. > 5. Will the reinstalled OS automatically recreate the user accounts based > on the home directories that exist or will I still need to do that? If you reinstall, no. If you do an upgrade, yes. > 6. If I need to recreate the user accounts manually, will they > automatically map to the correct user directories in the existing home > directory structure or will that be more tinkering? A little bit of tinkering is necessary. You'll need to make sure you use the same numeric user IDs and group IDs -- file ownership is really based on the numbers, and the name is associated by looking in /etc/password. So if the name matches but the number doesn't, the users won't be able to access their files. > 7. Besides my data, will the system also be able to access my e-mails, > user-specific settings, etc. set up within the previous install? Stuff that's in your home direcory, yes. > 8. If I later upgrade my "data" drive, is it just a case of copying the > home directory structure onto the new drive, plug it in and away I go, or > will I need to configure the OS to recognise the new drive first? It depends how you configure it in the first place, but usually these days (and by default in Fedora) the disk mounts are done by partition-specific UUIDs -- long random-seeming strings. You'll need to find the new one (with the "blkid" command or a GUI tool) and update /etc/fstab. Alternately, you can configure /etc/fstab to mount your home directory based on something else, including possibly drive letter (iffy, because that can move around based on the order things are detected) or filesystem label (which could be set to something like "/home"). -- Matthew Miller <mattdm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Fedora Project Leader -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Fedora Code of Conduct: http://fedoraproject.org/code-of-conduct Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org
