seth vidal wrote:
> i686 will run on x86_64 and i686 machines and on the overwhelming
> majority of hw someone will happen to have.
>
> x86_64 will not.
x86_64 will also work on an overwhelming majority of hardware around.
Basically all non-netbook x86 hardware made in the last few years is 64-bit!
> until i686 is uncommon (which is still not yet)
It is. Excepting netbooks, you'll be hard-pressed to find a 32-bit-only
machine that's less than 3+ years old.
> I think we should keep the default i686.
I think the default should be x86_64, with a clear message saying where to
download the 32-bit version if it's run on a 32-bit-only machine (something
which can probably be implemented with a simple GRUB patch). That way all
users get the optimal Fedora for their hardware.
Many people run the legacy 32-bit version on hardware which would run the
64-bit version just fine because they don't find the 64-bit version or
because they think the 32-bit one is somehow better supported since we offer
it by default (they might have some past bad experiences with multilib-by-
default and the resulting problems, but these days we default to pure 64-bit
which doesn't have any of those multilib issues), and 32-bit x86 is known to
be slow.
(FWIW, I also think there should be no one default download, instead the
get-fedora-options page should become the default get-fedora download page.
But that's a matter for another flamewar. ;-) )
Kevin Kofler
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