Re: KDE compiled for i686
I've heard a lot of talk about re-compiling packages for faster processors
recently. I know a few months ago there was quite a thread on the subject of
getting better performance from KDE if you re-compiled it with different
settings than the default ones Ivan uses, but I think there was a reason Ivan
uses the defaults, like greater compatibility for everyone.
I know that from 386 upto early pentiums there were some basic additions to the
instruction set so re-compiling should get a bit better performance because gcc
can select faster instructions. But I thought that to take advantage of MXX and
PIII's floating-point MMX instructions would take specifically written code to
see any kind of improvement. Can/Does gcc optimise for use of the MMX and other
3D-type instructions? I would have thought that with the ridiculous clock speeds
in use now that the minor increases gained by compiling for Pentium-level over
1386 would then be lost in memory-access times. Would my two PII 350's get
noticeably better performance on a 100Mhz Memory bus if I recompiled my system?
As far as compiling, is it fairly easy to compile source-deb's? I am currently
waiting on my complimentary Boxed-set of Progeny Linux which includes the full
sources on CD. Then it would be a simple matter of fetching Ivan's source-deb's
and them I should be able to compile whatever I want. Including Ghostscript
again since it got zapped during an un-attended dist-upgrade.
Cheers,
John Gay
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