From recent investigations into PR install/54844, I have noted that we
don't have a useful build tool that can both
1) compress much better/smaller than gzip, and
2) use multiple threads to do parallel compressions
to reduce run-time.
Using TOOL_XZ instead of TOOL_GZ satisfies requirement #1, and use of
(unsupported) TOOL_PIGZ satisfies #2, but neither option can meet
both. TOOL_XZ is explicitly built without thread support, and simply
modifying its Makefile to enable_threads=yes doesn't build.
FWIW, on my 8core/16thread Intel CPU, PIGZ compression takes just a
fraction of the time GZ takes to build a debug set (saving more than
20 minutes from a ``build.sh -J7 release''; yet the resulting sets
files from PIGZ are 50% to 100% larger than those from XZ.
So, it would seem reasonable to provide an option to build TOOL_XZ
with threads enabled, even if only through a hidden option (and maybe
eveen useful only in build.sh's -E expert mode).
Suggestion? Comments? Patches? :-)
+--------------------+--------------------------+----------------------+
| Paul Goyette | PGP Key fingerprint: | E-mail addresses: |
| (Retired) | FA29 0E3B 35AF E8AE 6651 | p...@whooppee.com |
| Software Developer | 0786 F758 55DE 53BA 7731 | pgoye...@netbsd.org |
| & Network Engineer | | pgoyett...@gmail.com |
+--------------------+--------------------------+----------------------+
