> On Thursday 18 August 2005 07:11, Nick wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > Just wanted to check which branch was the correct one for a Xeon EMT64?
> IA64 is itanium - that's out... x86_64 or i386 depends on the intended use
> of
> your system. If it is a server and has lots of memory then the 64bit
> variant
> is the right for you. If you need something that is easier to use and do
> not
> have >2Gb ram, you're better off with i386 in my opinion.
>
> The reason for that is that several applications (i.e. firefox plugins)
> will
> have to run 32bit even if you installed the 64bit x86_64 OS since no 64bit
> versions are available. To achive that, x86_64 contains a complete 32bit
> runtime environment. This means you need more disk space (i.e. for the
> 64bit
> and the 32bit versions of libraries) and you have a better chance of
> getting
> something wrong (i.e. the 64bit library of something you need is installed
> but you would need the 32bit version. A simple rpm -qa will show the
> package
> is installed but when running your 32bit app, it will still fail). Yum
> will
> take care of most of this, but if you're new to linux and/or do not want
> to
> have to deal with these things, a i386 install is just simpler.
>
Thanks for that, makes it a lot clearer.
As we have a policy of keeping it simple stupid for this particular
application I think I'll just go with the i386 release... saves me a couple
of hours downloading too - bonus ;o)
Thanks again.
