Re: Good optimize idea! (Re: ramblings about old hardware, gzip, bz2, and pentium opts)
Onno <Onno@Willem.Alexanderschool.nl> writes:
> At 03:04 PM 12/6/99 +0100, Tomasz Wegrzanowski wrote:
> [snip]
> >Didnt mean : use 486-or-better-only instructions
> >Mean : use optimalizations for 486 using only 386-or-better instructions
> >Is this ok ?
> >486 is much more similar to modern hardware than 386 was.
>
> This sounds reasonable.
>
> The old i386 stuff can still run it, but the binaries are
> optimized for somewhat modern hardsware.
>
> Great idea indeed!
gcc will ALWAYS produce code that runs on a i386, as I was
told. Exceptions of cause are direct asm instructions in the code
(like MMX optimizations).
Its actually not a good idea, since slow systems will be even slower,
fast systems will be slower and a very few machines with the exact
hardware optimized for will gain a little bit.
Also optimization is only worth for maybe 10-20 Package in Debian, so
if you find one of them too slow patch it to compile for various
optimizations and create multiple packages. (like gzip, gzip-mmx,
gzip-P2 or similar).
May the Source be with you.
Goswin
Reply to: