Optimisation carries a price. The i586 code of Mandrake tightens timing
requirements for hardware closer to the specs than the i486 or i386 code.
Unfortunately, the big market is still using i386 code. The result is that
hardware manufacturers can be more tolerant on culling their production
lines, knowing almost everyone is using i386 code and approximate conformance
to specification tolerances is good enough. So you and software distributors
have a choice:
Use 386 code and work with almost everything.
Use Mandrake and work with hardware that is properly built, to manufacturers
stated specifications. Some i486 Mandrake distributions will have more
tolerance of bad hardware.
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php3?sid=20000810082622 should provide
some enlightenment. Even manufacturers who work directly with the linux
market are subject to the quality control of their suppliers, particularly
for disk controllers and disk drives.
Civileme
On Monday 13 November 2000 22:51, you wrote:
> How come the tarball i downloaded from sun this morning with their newest
> java in it was an ...i386.tar.gz then? Wouldn't you think they of all co's
> (except of course Mandrakesoft) would be up to date on their optimization?
> my .02 US
>
> Vic wrote:
> > the i386 means optimised for the old 386 intel-based
> > cpu, the i486 is optimised for the old 486 cpu
> > and the i586 is for the current pentium or AMD K6
> > type cpu s The binary executables have
> > instructions contained in the appropriate cpu.
> >
> > On Mon, 13 Nov 2000, Donald Jr Saxton wrote:
> > > Hello, All.
> > >
> > > Just a quick question...Please don't kill me.
> > >
> > > What does i386, i486, i586 refer to?
