i386 and x86

[ieuuk]

Hey all, quick question. Why is the x86 version of fc4 test 3, 4cds where as the x86_64 version is 5?

[Jman]

You mean x86_64? I'm guessing some stuff is built in both 32 and 64 bit versions, but I'm not sure.

[tejas]

no, I think he is talking about
i386 packages and i586...(not to mention i486 and my comp: 686)

I think the question is why aren't fedora packages optimised for 586, instead of 386

[Finalzone]

ieuuk, I think you should reformulate the question. It seems you want to know why i386 version of FC4T3 comes with 4CDs and x86-64 with 5CDs. I think it has something to do with a specific packages optimized for x86-64 that cannot be used on i386.

[fremar]

Two reasons: As JMan already pointed out: the x86_64 architecture contains a lot of packages compiled for i386 as well. This is especially true for libraries, in order to be compatible with pre-compiled binaries that are only available for i386 and wouldn't run without i386 libraries (e.g. some browser plugins, commercial software etc).

Second reason: x86_64 binaries seem to be somewhat bigger than the corresponding i386 binaries.

[ieuuk]

yeah sorry about that... it was early when i wrote the question and wasnt really thinking properly. I wanted to know why x86 is so much bigger than x86_64