F8 vs. F9 (and 32bit vs. 64bit)

[Pacopag]

Hi. I'm thinking of doing a fresh install. I'm running F7 and it's working pretty good, but I'm told that support for F7 is waning. My first question is whether I should bother upgrading in the first place.

If it is worth it I would like it if someone could summarize the pros and cons of F8 vs. F9, and also for 32bit vs. 64bit versions.

Thanks.

[Brook]

If F7 can fill your need,I think it's useless of upgrading to F8 or F9.In my opinion,upgrading can result in some problems,for example,some software can't work normally or the drivers can't work just like before.

[Pacopag]

Ok. Thanks. That's the answer I was hoping for. As nice as it is to have a fresh crispy install, it's always a pain getting there.

[muep]

While F7 may work for you right now, it is not getting any security updates, and in my opinion, is thus in a serious need of an upgrade. Especially if you have it connected to the Internet.

[JohnVV]

also if you stay with fedora 7 you WILL need to install new software from the source code ( ./configure,make,make install) and not just for the program but for MOST of it's dependencies .Also you may just as well UNINSTALL "yum "as it won't be working for much longer on Fedora 7 .
Now you can stay with 7 but get used to building all updates YOUR SELF
Example:
if you use the gimp a lot and build the new one that also means rebuilding GTK and Gnome

[JN4OldSchool]

The dependencies alone would kill you. I dont see the security side as that big of an issue. If you are a sane user and have secure passwords and dont run as root then your risk is negligible. Be aware however, there is risk. Then again, there is risk in running a fully updated F9 also.

The deciding factor for me would be how static the install is. Do you ever install new apps? What do you use the system for? If you just browse the web and type an occasional document then I wouldnt be in a hurry to change. When you do go to change though maybe you should consider your choice of distros?

Fedora, as a general rule, has a new release every six months. The previous release is supported for a further six months. Then it is EOL which means you are SOL. You are considering F8. Why? F8 will be in the same position F7 is now in December/January. This is not a long time away. Depending on how comfortable you are on Fedora you may want to check out debian. They have a rolling upgrade plan that would NEVER require a new install. You just keep updating. Fedora is a lot of work compared to most distros. If you arent prepared to keep up there really is not much point in running it.

[Pacopag]

Well. I've been using Fedora because it WORKED. I have a dual boot with windows 'cause I like to play the odd game now and then. I read that you should always install windows first, then linux after to avoid booting problems. I tried this with Ubuntu, and it screwed up my windows installation. Fedora worked great, so I've been a fan ever since. I have Ubuntu on my other comp., and I gotta say I kinda like Fedora better, but maybe that's just because I use it more.

I mostly use my computer for academic-type work. I use stuff like Mathematica, Maple, Latex. It doesn't happen often, but now and then I do need to install some new stuff. I definitely don't want to lose that ability. Just yesterday I needed to get Java support for gcc, By no means am I a computer guru. I much prefer to do things with gui's rather than with the command line. Also, I don't hate formatting and intalling a fresh OS; I actually kinda like it. Only thing is that I don't always have the time to go through with it.

But, I might be more inclined to give ubuntu another try, unless someone can convince me that Fedora is better suited to my needs for some reason. What are the pros and cons of Fedora and Ubuntu? Why would I choose one over the other?

And what about the 32bit vs. 64bit issue?

[Seve]

Hello:

Originally Posted by Pacopag

And what about the 32bit vs. 64bit issue?

See Firewing1's Should I choose 64bit (x86_64) or 32bit (i386)?

Seve

[JN4OldSchool]

That clears up a lot. First, you can most certainly install Windows after Linux! The problem is Windows will install its bootloader in the MBR. It will not automatically detect the Linux (any distro) install so you would have to add this manually. I dont know anything about the Windows bootloader myself. A better way is to use your Linux install CD/DVD to repair Grub in the MBR. This is a very easy step and 99% of the time it will automatically detect Windows so you dont even have to manually add it.

32 vs 64 bit? Oh boy! This is one big can of worms in here! Just do a search, there are two-three very good, very long threads on this issue. I went 64 bit on F8 for the first time and I can honestly say it was no harder than 32 bit. Flash is no longer a problem and there is nothing "extra" to be done. One down side is you will most likely have 32 and 64 bit libraries for many apps. Some, like Wine, you need both. Others just installs both. The more apps you have the worse it gets. Some people strip out all the 32 bit packages, this is certainly an option. Personally, I saw NO advantage running 64 bit over 32 bit. But I dont do any data intensive work either. I wont argue this point, this is MY experience. I continue to run 64 bit on my big desktop rig. I run 32 bit on everything else though.

Ubuntu vs Fedora? Again, do a search, you will find more material then you want! It is a main topic. Many of us like Ubuntu, it is a good distro, it is just different. Which is better? No sir, I aint going there! I actually prefer debian to Ubuntu, but Linux Mint and PCLOS are also very good distros.

If I were you, and since I like Fedora, I would repartition so that I had an adequate (but not much larger than the OS requires) Windows partition, An adequate Linux partition, a 2GB swap and the rest as an NTFS data partition to be shared between Windows and Linux. Adequate would be, at most, 20GB for each OS, this is even generous. All personal data would go in the shared NTFS partition. Linux can read/write to this with no problems with the default installed NTFS-3G. Then, when it comes time to update Fedora every six months it is a breeze. It takes me a few hours to fully install and tweak the OS.

Should you stay with Fedora? Only you can answer this. Linux is basically Linux, once you figure out the basics you will use any distro with ease. But I personally think Fedora is just better than the rest. By all rights debian etch is the "perfect" Linux distro, but I just like Fedora. So I can understand where you are coming from. It is always good to expand your horizons, but i consider Fedora home.