Last Tuesday 06 July 2004 01:06, Alastair Couper was like: > What difference does the target processor for the various distros make ? > Is there enough difference between the i386 i586 i686 based distros to > be worth anything ? Don't know, never tried. :-) > I had assumed that compiling your own kernel for > your specific processor was a Good Thing (tm). I figured that building > these other apps for your processor would be a slight advantage too. An > i386 based distro for multimedia doesn't make sense if the apps aren't > making use of the various enhancements available in P4 or K7 based > systems, unless those enhancements don't count for much in real life. It's certainly not something you need to worry about before you've settled on a suitable distro. Pre-patched multimedia kernels are generally available in 386, 586, 686, k6 & k7 flavours. I assume that deals with most differences. As for applications, I let apt-get take the strain. I believe there are different binaries for the different processor types when it makes a difference. cheers tim hall
