Hello, On Tue, Jun 17, 2003 at 11:10:01AM -0400, George France wrote: > Everything built for alpha should use -mieee. It is not need on most other > architrectures, but it is almost a requirement for the alpha architecture. Sure, since all other (popular) architectures implement the IEEE standard. > This has been a subject of lengthy discussion on several mailing list. Well, which ones? I can't remember such discussions with the outcome you mention on either debian alpha nor redhat-axp. One of the reasons for the speed of alpha is the ability to calculate fast, eliminating often unnecessary checks. So why should we do away this advantage by re-inserting those checks on a broad basis again when compiling software? If a program divides by zero, it is a bug. If it can't handle an overflow, it is a bug. If the author *knows* there could be a division by zero or simmilar, he/she has to provide checks. -mieee is for software where speed is absolutly irrelevant and where bugs like those mentions are no problems (e.g. an office suite). Also it can be a first step to get an application running on alpha at all. But IMHO this should be decided on a case by case basis and not be stuck into every compilation; especially since several programs are fixed now and can work fine without -mieee (or never needed one in the first place). > I hope this helps. Nope, sorry. Greetings Helge -- Helge Kreutzmann, Dipl.-Phys. Helge.Kreutzmann@itp.uni-hannover.de gpg signed mail preferred gpg-key: finger kreutzm@rigel.itp.uni-hannover.de 64bit GNU powered http://www.itp.uni-hannover.de/~kreutzm Help keep free software "libre": http://www.freepatents.org/
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