i586?!

General Forums Off-topic Chat
1

I’m looking to download Mandrake Linux pretty soon. When I get to the download page, however, I begin to get a little confused.

There are versions for “i586 and higher.” What does this refer to? Does it matter which one I download?

Thanks

dante

2

if i’m correct, this refers to the intel pentium processor instructions version, wich means that the mandrake kernel & applications are compiled & optimized for the i586 processor.

3

the amd k6 (iirc) is an i586 cpu as well

I think the pentium 2 is where i686 started and we have more instruction sets from there (sse, 3dnow …)

4

so lets say that I dont know what my processor is. I mean, I know that its an amd athalon 2600 but im not really sure which linux is optimised for it. Anyone out there that can help? Or havent I given enough information?

dante

5

linux distributors will never release versions for specific processor versions like amd athlon, they’ll compile everything for a standardized processor instruction set (ie i386 or i586 which is commenly supported)

if you want stuff(kernel & applications) to be optimized for your specific processor instructionset commands, you’ll have to (re)compile the packages yourself ands specify optimalisation compiler options. then again, not all applications provide special optimalisation for different cpu’s.

what i have done:

  1. installed a slim and most recent version of slackware (i’m not trying to invoke a distro war)
  2. fetched the most recent stable kernel and compiled it with my specific cpu optimizations
  3. compiled the packages & applications i needed

it’s pretty time consuming, but you’ll find yourself learning a greater deal about linux

6

I have tried to instal slackware, but find that its too user unfriendly for my taste. Thank you all for the useful information

/me goes to download all 3 cds of mandrake

dante

7

For those who must optimize for their processors, there’s always Gentoo…
I use gentoo. but I often reccomend Mandrake as it seems to offer a smooth install experience compared to many other distros. an Athlon of an kind is greater than i586, so you’re all set with that.

8

Just download the first CD … when it is booting it will tell you wich x86 processor it detected on your machine… the message usually will go unnoticed, so you better pay atention to your monitor.