Hi Guys!

I currently have a new PC so I want to install Suse Linux 10.2 on it and have a dual boot with windows xp.

My PC Details:
Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo JI,
Intel Pentium 4 3.06 Ghz,
512 Ram,
80 GB hard drive,
no floppy drive
DVD writer,
etc...

So I want to know, should I get Suse 10.2 (i386) or the (x64) or the (x86) I get confused with these terms.

And should it be on normal cd's or a dvd...
(I heard that DVD's were a pain) are they?

And could you perhaps explain the differences between the 3 ditros? (i386, x64 ...) For my future knowledge...

Thanks guys!

You need to get the x86 version (which is for 32 bit processors but will work fine on 64 bit processors as well) unless you have a 64 bit processor, in which case you can get the x64 version.

I would always install from (one) CD--then get everything else using the package manager....simpler, and less to go wrong.

Why limit yourself to SuSE ??? Set up the dual boot, but don't do anything productive with it (well at least, nothing you can't afford to loose - unless you make sure that you use the root/swap/home partitioning scheme (maybe a /boot as well) and then you can always back up the /home). That way, you can just install a different distro to the root partition and see which one you like best - erm, having used mainly rpm based distros previously, I'd offer the suggestion that you try something thats not rpm based as I found that SuSE and Mandriva (both rpm based), while good, can be a PITA and that one that uses the debian based package management tool "APT" is considerably better.

Oh, and the difference between x64 and x86 has already been explained, so the basic difference between i386 and x86 (as I understand it) is that i386 is more likely to work well on an older processor i.e. pentium 1, 2 or 3, whereas the i686 version would be fine on a P4 - but both i386 and i686 could normally be referred to as x86 as well.

Theres no reason as I understand it, that you shouldn't be able to install from either a CD or DVD if you have a DVD writer. The DVD would just have considerably more packages available on it that just the 1 CD. Hence pixellany's suggestion - I'm thinking that it means that if you just install the basic system and graphical frontend, then during the updating process, it doesn't have so much to update and/or go wrong. Then the package manager will provide the rest of what you need, but up to date versions etc.

regards

John

Just to clarify, Suse is the Distro.

The different downloads you are seeing is because your operating system, regardless of brand or distro, has to be able to talk to your hardware. So Suse is offering you a choice of downloads for your particular architecture (category of computer hardware).

Computer architecture refers in a general way to the type of computer (PC, Apple MacIntosh, and others) and the motherboard chipset and processor combination (usually being 32-bit or 64-bit for PCs).

32-bit PC artictectures are generally referred to as "X86" because of Intel's numbering system for all modern processors. It doesn't matter if the actual processor is Intel or AMD brand, or if the actual chipset is Intel or one of many other brands, as long as that processor is made to comply to the "X86" architecture. 64-bit PC architectures are referred to as "X64", and you would know if you had it (you would have shelled out the money for it, for one thing).

Linux doesn't run on Apple's computers, so that's why you don't see it as an option. Actually, the newest Apple MacIntosh computer does, though. They finally switched to a PC architecture with Intel processors, whereas they previously had a proprietary (private) processor and motherboard made for them, so you could only run the MacIntosh operating system on a Mac.

As for the other types of computers out there, they are mainly servers or really old computers known by professionals in certain technical positions...not something you can walk into a store and buy.

This is why everyone can confidently tell you you want the X86 download. But that is just the Suse download for your architecture. Suse is the Distro.

Examples of Linux distros are Suse, Mandriva, Slackware, Ubutu, Knoppix, Xandros, Gentoo, Mepis and, well, there are literally hundreds! They use the Linux kernel (the core part of the operating system, minus your desktop, applications, tools, etc), then they choose things like:

• the filesystem (Just like in Windows you can choose FAT16, FAT32 of NTFS, with NTFS being the default starting in WindowsXP, Linux has several filesystems to choose from.)
• the desktop (Unlike Windows this is seperate, so you can choose. For example, KDE and GNOME are the most popular. They look different, the menus are different, the windows work different. They also usually inlcude many graphical applications.)
• the applications (The software you use to do things. You usually have both command-line applications as well as graphical applications that can be run from the desktop, though some can be run either way.)

Most distros include several desktops and allow you to choose. Most of them also boot into the command line by default, and you have to explicitly start the desktop. You can change some files so the desktop starts automatically, if you like, but usually you only do this after you make sure everything works right in the GUI (graphical user interface), make sure all your hardware is detected, get familiar with Linux and with the filesystem you installed, etc.

I know your question was already answered, I just hope this was some helpful education about Linux.

Use <Distro> - learn <Distro>.
Use Slackware - learn Linux ;-)

Do you mean those using PowerPC? There are several distributions that will run on PowerPC machines (Gentoo is one)..

Regarding Linux not running on all Macs but the newest:
Ah, then it seems my own education is limited in some ways. I didn't realize a few distros actually would. You generally hear that Linux doesn't run on Macs (until recently).

@ zhemnic: PowerPC is one of the older Apple architectures.

nearly all distros i have come across offer a PPC version, including:

suse
debian (many arches avalable)
Fedora
gentoo
and many more

Yellow dog is designed for the PPC archtecture