Re: Intel f90 compiler for Debian.
alberto <albertobig@libero.it> writes:
> Intel has a powerful f90 compiler, the only one freely available on
> the market, as far as I know, which runs under Linux. It is an
> extremely important tool for those who run numerical simulations for
> scientific purposes.
> http://www.intel.com/software/products/compilers/downloads/forlin.htm
>
> Unfortunately for Debian users, Intel distribute the compiler as an
> rpm archive, and the install script is accordingly written.
>
> I have succesfully and easily installed the compiler on my Debian
> Woody in a kind of a dirty way and I've put a brief HOWTO on my web
> site:
> http://www.nordita.dk/~bigazzi/varie/Intel_F90_on_a_Debian_GNU_system
> .html
>
> I'm sure, though, that the install script, wich you find on the same
> page of mine, can be just adapted to Debian and made available to
> Intel for them to include Debian as a supported platform for their
> compiler.
>
> Notice that, in the scientific community, the availability of such a
> compiler for Debian, will greatly benefit our favorite distro.
>
> Does anyone want to take the task of rewriting the script for Debian?
There are more problems to this than the rpm format. As I understand
their website, Intel provides a binary-only version of this compiler,
and the license agreement prohibits disassembly and reverse
engineering. Furthermore, it is available only for the i386
architecture. The non-freeness prevents it from becoming part of
Debian. The free software community would profit much more from making
gcc's Fortran compiler compatible with the Fortran 95 standard. For
those interested, the TODO list is at
http://gcc.gnu.org/fortran/todo.html
Of course, if somebody (maybe you?) sends Intel some patches to make
their compiler work on Debian systems, that can not be bad. As an
aside, I don't quite understand why Fortran is still so popular in the
numerical mathematics community... :)
Lukas
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