[CentOS] Troubles for an non-IT beginner

Sun Jan 16 17:40:16 UTC 2011
Digimer <linux at alteeve.com>

On 01/16/2011 12:31 PM, Parshwa Murdia wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 5:02 PM, Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com
> <mailto:heller at deepsoft.com>> wrote:
> 
>     > i386 is for older technology PCs. The x86_64 is for newer PCs
> 
> 
> How can I know that I have to use i386 or x86_64, my machine is not very
> new though.

If your computer has a 64-bit CPU then you can use x86_64. This makes it
easier to access memory above 3GB, and many new applications are now
available in 64-bit. If your CPU is older, it may only support 32-bit.
In this case, you must use the i386 (i686) release. Some commercially
ported applications, like Adobe's Flash player, work best in 32-bit.

>     The x86_64 release takes two DVDs, but the second DVD just has
>     OpenOffice language packs.
> 
> 
> It would be great if you get me the direct link like amongst
> http://ftp.iitm.ac.in/centos/5.5/isos/i386/ which one? Further, without
> knowledge only, it took only one CD when I downloaded Fedora, here more
> than one CD is there? We cannot do it later by using some command like
> yum. Please elaborate.

If you are completely new to Linux, may I suggest you start with Fedora
or Ubuntu? CentOS is a wonderful distrobution, but it is aimed at
somewhat more advanced used. It is also designed for servers, so the
software is much older (and more well tested). One of the downsides of
this is that the latest version, 5.5, may not support some of your newer
hardware.

In Linux, each distribution focuses on particular needs. Most generally,
you have a split between server-oriented distributions (CentOS, RHEL,
Debian, etc) and desktop-oriented distributions (Fedora, Ubuntu, etc).
The newer distributions will have much better hardware support,
applications with the latest features and will generally be much more
user friendly.

Enjoy your venture into Linux! I came to Linux about ten years ago and
have never looked back. After ten prior years in the Windows world,
Linux made computers fun again. :)

-- 
Digimer
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