Desktop environment

[yyuto5]

Hi,
I'm new to Fedora forum. Hopefully I'm posting this to the right place. Have a few questions related to desktop:

1. There are 4 desktop types to choose from "http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options#desktops":

Fedora 15 Desktop Edition (GNOME-based)
Fedora 15 KDE Spin
Fedora 15 LXDE Spin
Fedora 15 Xfce Spin

Each type has two options: 32 & 64-bit. What type of download are these, Full Distribution or Live Image?

2. Both Full Distribution and Live Image seem to allow one to install the complete Fedora system, but Live Image appear to be much smaller file. So why should one choose the Full Distribution option?

3. The 4 desktop environments that can be downloaded from the link mentioned in my question 1 above can be installed. But these are also called spins. I thought spins can only be tried out, but not installed, right?

4. Is there a way to be able to use 2 different types of desktops, for example, use KDE for majority of the time and Xfce occasinally? That is, is there a way to just download a specific desktop environment as a package (not the entire Fedora system), for example, Xfce, and then install it on your existing Fedora system (for example running KDE), and be able to switch easily between these two desktop environments? Or one has to uninstall the entire existing Fedora system and then install the other type of Fedora (in this example, uninstall Fedora KDE, then install Fedora Xfce)?

Any help is appreciated.

[DBelton]

Ok.. First off, if you get the desktop edition (the default Fedora install), you can easily install both Gnome and KDE (and even Xfce and LXDE too, if you wish) . There is an option to customise the install and you can add them there, or you can add them after you install with yum.

The full distribution has more packages on the DVD than the live image does (but any of those packages can be installed after install so you aren't losing access to packages by using the livecd image), and allows a few more options for you to configure the install how you want, but it won't let you boot up a live system and try it out first. It has to be installed to a hard drive first.

I usually use the full DVD to install from since it usually supports more different hardware that the livecd image sometimes has problems with, plus it does allow more options during the install.

As for 32 bit versus 64 bit, I would recommend the 64 bit version if your system supports it. (Most intel processors from the P4 dual core and newer probably support 64 bit. and AMD had more older processors that supported it than intel did.) Chances are if your system is less than 4-5 years old, it should support the 64 bit version.

[JamesNZ]

I would recommend you get the live image then manually install any packages you want, otherwise when you run "yum update" after installing from the dvd, EVERYTHING will be updated. It's better on bandwidth if you just get the latest packages after install.

[yyuto5]

Originally Posted by DBelton

Ok.. First off, if you get the desktop edition (the default Fedora install), you can easily install both Gnome and KDE (and even Xfce and LXDE too, if you wish) . There is an option to customise the install and you can add them there, or you can add them after you install with yum.
.

Thanks. Just a few other questions:

a. I'm running Core 2 Duo 1.3 GHz, I guess I can use either 32 or 64 bit based on Table 2.1 of Documentation. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

b. I also have NVIDIA GeForce G210M CUDA 512MB graphics card. Will Full Distribution or Live Image installation or just Fedora in general support this kind of graphics card?

c. Where can I find instructions on how to use yum to add other desktop environments on top of an existing Fedora system?

Sorry some questions are quite basic as I'm new to Fedora. Thanks.

---------- Post added at 11:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 PM ----------

Originally Posted by JamesNZ

I would recommend you get the live image then manually install any packages you want, otherwise when you run "yum update" after installing from the dvd, EVERYTHING will be updated. It's better on bandwidth if you just get the latest packages after install.

So you're saying that with Live Image, I can update individual package/component using yum. But with Full Distribution I cannot update individual package with yum, everything will be updated if I run yum?

Thanks.

[DBelton]

Originally Posted by yyuto5

Thanks. Just a few other questions:

a. I'm running Core 2 Duo 1.3 GHz, I guess I can use either 32 or 64 bit based on Table 2.1 of Documentation. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

b. I also have NVIDIA GeForce G210M CUDA 512MB graphics card. Will Full Distribution or Live Image installation or just Fedora in general support this kind of graphics card?

c. Where can I find instructions on how to use yum to add other desktop environments on top of an existing Fedora system?

Sorry some questions are quite basic as I'm new to Fedora. Thanks.

---------- Post added at 11:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 PM ----------



So you're saying that with Live Image, I can update individual package/component using yum. But with Full Distribution I cannot update individual package with yum, everything will be updated if I run yum?

Thanks.

a: correct. Just about all of the core 2 duo systems that I know of support 64 bit. Unless there is something strange about your motherboard, you should be able to run 64 bit with no problems.

b: Yes, Fedora supports just about all of the nvidia cards through the nouveau driver. After you install, if you have issues with the nouveau driver, you can install the proprietary nvidia driver if you wish to. Leigh123linux has a really great guide on how to do that here:

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=204752

c: a good place to start learning how to use yum is to read through it's man page. From a terminal screen just type man yum and it will bring up some of the options and how to use yum. I would also suggest a package called yumex if you would like to have a graphical front-end to using yum.

From a terminal screen:

su -
(root password)
yum install yumex

If you have any other questions or problems, just ask away.. There are a lot of people in here willing to help out a new fedora user.

So you're saying that with Live Image, I can update individual package/component using yum. But with Full Distribution I cannot update individual package with yum, everything will be updated if I run yum?

Thanks.

He was saying that a lot of the packages would be updated on your first update right after you install from the full DVD. (same with the live cd)

It's just a little bandwidth savings to download the smaller livecd image, then install the packages out of the online repo rather than to download the older packages on the install dvd and then just have to turn around and download the updated version.

If a little bandwidth usage isn't an issue for you, then it really makes no difference. But if you have a slow connection or have problems downloading 500MB-1GB, then you might want to think about the option where you download the least amount.