On Sat, 2008-03-01 at 09:52 -0600, Mike Chambers wrote:
Hey all,
Ok, am new to using the 64bit systems and this is my first one. I
finally got my dual boot all setup and Fedora 8 initially installed with
updates applied as of this morning. So far basically no problems, and
running fine AFAICT. But some issues, comments, or questions I have to
help better understand how to run my system.
1 - Noticed i386 packages (some, not all) installed along with the 64
bit ones. Is there an rpm/yum command to list the i386, and possibly
then remove the ones I def don't need that the system will allow? Are
there some of these that I *have* to have, depending on what I use the
program for? I have seperate test/updates/rawhide dir's that I mirror,
and notice in the 64 bit ones, that there are i386 packages, as I guess
those are needed depended on if i386 is what is needed to go along with
the 64 bit ones?
2 - This may be part of my question to 1 above, but are firefox and
evolution i386 packages needed? I installed the flash-plugin but think
I have seen talk bout only for i386 and that is why firefox-i386 is
needed?
3 - My system is an AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 3600+ (2.0G cpu
speed each one I think). What kernel does this need to be using for
best results?
4 - I only use the system for home use, email, internet, occasional
packaging (not much, just edit or repackage), that type thing. Do I
*really* have to worry bout using 64 bit installs , or can i386 work
just fine and not have to worry about separate dir's and packages
mixing? Will my system/kernel still run just as fast or whatever with
i386 or is it even running that much (if at all) faster now with 64 bit?
Hope this isn't too many questions, just trying to understand what my
system is capable of doing. Thanks for your time.
----
Probably the easiest way is to first make sure you have a .rpmmacros
file (in at least root's home directory, also any users that you
routinely use to solve dep issues) ... in that file, put this line:
%_query_all_fmt %%{name}-%%{version}-%%{release}.%%{arch}
That will make all rpm queries show you the $ARCH of the RPMS ...
as for your specific questions...
1. I think is already answered
2. Firefox/Evolution i386 - perhaps not needed. Some things are
difficult to do with Firefox-x86_64...specifically getting java applets
to run. IcedTea is getting close but is still imperfect. I have heard
reports of getting Blackdown's 64 bit version of Java and their plugin
to work with Firefox but I don't recall seeing anyone suggest that they
can get Sun's jre/jdk 1.6.003 plugin to work in 64 bit Firefox.
nspluginviewer is your friend - be sure to run it anytime you add 32 bit
plugins (flash/acroread)
3. Don't know...I presume the standard x86_64
4. I don't know that 64 bit is all that much faster. I have been forced
to use it by some of the lower end Dell Optiplex systems that just don't
run well on i386. You definitely benefit if you have over 3 Gb of RAM.
For the most part, it shouldn't make that much of a difference.
Craig