i386 vs SRPMS iso image difference? - newbie question

[Luciano Miguel Ferreira Rocha]

On Sat, Feb 14, 2004 at 01:40:13PM -0500, David Hunt wrote:
> I have downloaded and installed Fedora using the i386 iso images. That 
> worked very nicely.
> I also downloaded the SRPMS images, but didn't appear to need them. What 
> are the SRPMS images for?
> Can anyone really quickly tell me the difference between the i386 and 
> SRPMS iso images?

SRPMS are RPMs with the source code, patches and build instructions for the
binary packages in the i386 isos.

If you ever need to check the sources (for curiosity, tinker, update, etc.),
they will come in handy.


> Also, how do I know what kind of processor I've got?
> I am running an Intel Pentium 4 2.66GHz processor. Is that i386, i486, 
> i586, or i686?

i386 works (or should) with any x86 processor (Intel, AMD, Via, Transmeta,
etc.), but has no performance tunning for newer processors than the original
Intel 80386. (Kernel 2.6.x has support for on-boot update of common
procedures for the system's processor, but it isn't global and FC1 comes
with 2.4.x, anyway.)

i486 has some performance tunning for the originals 486.

i586 for Pentium and Pentium-MMX

i686 for Pentium-Pro, Pentium II, etc.

> Would it make any difference to try recompiling the kernel for the 
> correct processor type?

Fedora comes already with i686 and amd versions, and the installer should
had installed the adequate for your processor.

Regards,
Luciano Rocha