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What is the difference between "bin" and "netinstall" ISO files for Linux?

I need a full OS, not just a Live CD. On the mirrors there are two kind of files

  • osname-bin-DVD.iso and
  • osname-netinstall.iso

Which one is the full OS?

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They both are... – soandos Aug 22 '11 at 11:50

1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote accepted

It somewhat depends on which particular distribution you are talking about, and very much on what you mean by "full OS". Where do you draw the line?

  • Do you require the ability to install to disk? Almost all live CDs can do that. (In fact, many distributions provide a single disc for both live use and installation.)
  • Do you count the programs installed? Then live CDs would be fuller than install-only CDs. (Especially the "netinstall" ones: they only come with a bare minimum required for installation, and download the rest when needed.)

In your example, both "bin" and "netinstall" images have a full OS in that you can boot and install from the CD.

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why do you say that live CDs are fuller than install-only CDs? I'm talking about centos 6.0. LiveCD is 684 Mb, LiveDVD is 1.6Gb, bin DVD - 4.4 Gb, minimal - 257Mb, netinstall 173Mb. Which is better for only rails development learning? – Sergey Aug 22 '11 at 12:03
2  
@Sergey: I was questioning your definition of "full OS" versus "live CD". Are you going to install it to your own computer? If yes, then it does not matter at all which one you choose. They all have the same installation program, and it installs the same set of base packages. "bin DVD" comes with every single package on the DVD, "netinstall" will download everything at installation time, but the end result is exactly the same. – grawity Aug 22 '11 at 12:07
3  
Rails? It really doesn't matter. Choose netinstall and just let it download what YOU need. – sinni800 Aug 22 '11 at 12:08
by the way, just netinstall or minimal were not sufficient. I couldn't set the system with only one of those iso files. I hope it will work with liveCD.iso – Sergey Aug 22 '11 at 18:37

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