Promoting i386 version over x86_64?

[Justin M. Forbes]

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 02:27:32AM +0100, Kevin Kofler wrote:
> Gregory Maxwell wrote:
> > I noticed that http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora appears to be
> > strongly promoting i386 Fedora over x86_64. Is this intentional or an
> > oversight?
> 
> IMHO, the right solution is to make the 64-bit edition the default download 
> and to work on making the error message people get when trying to install it 
> on a 32-bit machine nicer: "We're sorry, but your computer is too old to 
> install this 64-bit version of Fedora. Please download the legacy 32-bit 
> edition instead."

This is not the right solution.  For much of the world, the time it takes
to download an ISO is meaningful.  As much as I would like to see 64bit as
the default, it just isn't possible.  What would make more sense is having
the defaults state more clearly that they are the 32bit version. Perhaps
make the 64bit version more prominent than it is now.  Fedora has been
available for x86_64 for 5.5 years now, and a large portion of the hardware
out there is 64bit capable.  Leave the defaults as 32bit so that people who
don't know what they have will get an ISO that works, but make it clear
that 64bit versions are available with something visible on the main
page.  People who don't know what it is won't bother, people who do will
not have to dig to find it.

Justin