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Re: Pgcc in Deb



On Mon, Apr 03, 2000 at 09:37:37PM +0300, Eray Ozkural wrote:
> > No arch/cpu-related optimizations are being set by default in most of the
> > packages. Perhaps there are a few exceptions, where the upstream settings
> > use optimization, or where the Debian maintainer has changed it, I don't
> > know.
> 
> I see. I'd like to stress that my original claim about 50% is perfectly
> valid, and I think that's sufficiently large to demand some action.

AFAIR the speed gain in a normal program is about 5% at most.

I have seen how a program can be sped up by 45%, but it was an MP3 encoder
in which people added code for using MMX and SSE instruction sets (is that
the right term?), and it was compiled with -m<something>=i686... so actually
it seems it was mostly the new code that made the program faster, not
compiler optimizations.

> It by no means implies that people with true i386's won't be able to
> run Debian, it just gives a turbo option to people with pentiums.

AFAIR there maybe be some slowdowns even on the processors for which the
program was no optimized.

> > I think we already had this discussion (which usually evolved in a flamewar
> > :), several times, and nothing was done to change the current status. Please
> > let's not rehash the whole issue once again.
> 
> I don't think it has to turn into a flamewar every time somebody brings up
> the topic. Take it this way, I've got a Beowulf cluster to play with, and
> I can build it!

Well, until you do something and display the results, nothing will happen to
change Debian (unofficial) stance on optimizing for >386 machines.

-- 
Digital Electronic Being Intended for Assassination and Nullification


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