[Caml-list] Ocamlopt x86-32 and SSE2
Xavier Leroy wrote: >2- Declare pre-SSE2 processors obsolete and convert the current > "i386" port to always use SSE2 float arithmetic. > >3- Support both x87 and SSE2 float arithmetic within the same i386 > port, with a command-line option to activate SSE2, like gcc does. As someone with somewhat of an obsession for keeping obsolete computers in function as long as they are not broken, I have to interject something. I still have a functional Pentium 90 (granted, that's not the newest computer that does not support SSE2, but please hear me). I gave up the idea of bootstrapping OCaml on it years ago because it has 16Mb of memory, and that became insufficient around the time Camlp4 became part of the distribution. I would have had either to modify the compilation flow or cross-compile, both of which were too much work for the meagre resulting cool factor. Now, both the old and the new Camlp4 are fine pieces of software that make use of resources available nowadays to make things possible that weren't before. I am not complaining. I am saying that you have to be consistent in your requirements. My father was using Debian on a 500MHz K6-3D that I had somehow been able to upgrade with enough memory to run one of the two popular desktops. He finally upgraded to a new computer because he could see the characters being displayed one by one in the e-mail client. That, or the motherboard died. I can't remember. It was serendipitous, anyway. There are plenty of embedded processors with an x86 instruction set and no SSE2 around, but these are not in the cool toys that we want to run OCaml on. The cool toys have ARM processors. My message is: I am one of the people who have the peculiar mental illness that leads one to suggest a compatible option. Well, I am not. Take option 2 and run with it! >However, packagers are >going to be very unhappy: Debian still lists i486 as its bottom line; >for Fedora, it's Pentium or Pentium II; for Windows, it's "a 1GHz >processor", meaning Pentium III. All these processors lack SSE2 >support. Only MacOS X is SSE2-compatible from scratch. Only Linux distributions are a problem, if OCaml packages are at risk of being rejected. Just because Windows still works on old computers doesn't force every program to do the same (flame bait: and I would add that Windows' support for old computers is mostly unintentional). In Linux distributions, is it completely forbidden to have packages that will not work on the bottom line? This is (I assume) Ocaml 3.12 that we are talking about, which would land sometime in 2010 and arrive in binary distributions that are scheduled to be released in 2011. Will Debian maintain its delusion of supporting the i486 by that time? Pascal ___ Caml-list mailing list. Subscription management: http://yquem.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/caml-list Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
Re: [Caml-list] ocamlbuild plugin linking phase
Excerpts from Daniel Bünzli's message of Fri May 08 15:27:40 +0200 2009: > Is there a way to add options to the plugin linking phase (I'd like to > link my plugin with Str) ? There is no support for this in ocamlbuild. However, I think you can workaround this issue by providing -ocamlc 'ocamlc str.cma' (same for ocamlopt). -- Nicolas Pouillard ___ Caml-list mailing list. Subscription management: http://yquem.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/caml-list Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
Re: [Caml-list] ocamlbuild plugin linking phase
Le 9 mai 09 à 19:51, Nicolas Pouillard a écrit : There is no support for this in ocamlbuild. However, I think you can workaround this issue by providing -ocamlc 'ocamlc str.cma' (same for ocamlopt). Yes. Thanks. Daniel ___ Caml-list mailing list. Subscription management: http://yquem.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/caml-list Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
Re: [Caml-list] Ocamlopt x86-32 and SSE2
"CUOQ Pascal" writes: > Xavier Leroy wrote: >>2- Declare pre-SSE2 processors obsolete and convert the current >> "i386" port to always use SSE2 float arithmetic. >> >>3- Support both x87 and SSE2 float arithmetic within the same i386 >> port, with a command-line option to activate SSE2, like gcc does. >... > In Linux distributions, is it completely forbidden to have packages > that will not work on the bottom line? > This is (I assume) Ocaml 3.12 that we are talking about, which > would land sometime in 2010 and arrive in binary distributions > that are scheduled to be released in 2011. Will Debian maintain > its delusion of supporting the i486 by that time? > > Pascal As you said (in the deleted part) there are plenty of cpus without SSE2 around and Debian will continue to support them. That does not really mean i486 at 25MHz will be used but it is the common bottom line that can easily be supported. Having ocaml require SSE2 is quite unacceptable for someone with a Via C7 cpu (they don't have SSE2, right?) Is it really that much work for ocaml to use option 3? MfG Goswin ___ Caml-list mailing list. Subscription management: http://yquem.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/caml-list Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
Re: [Caml-list] Ocamlopt x86-32 and SSE2
2009/5/10 Goswin von Brederlow : > Having ocaml require SSE2 is quite unacceptable for someone with a Via > C7 cpu (they don't have SSE2, right?) Is it really that much work for > ocaml to use option 3? Maybe not, but don't underestimate tiny inconveniences! Even if it is tiny more work to support x87, it could be a difference of doing it and not doing it. http://lesswrong.com/lw/f1/beware_trivial_inconveniences/ -- Seo Sanghyeon ___ Caml-list mailing list. Subscription management: http://yquem.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/caml-list Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
Re: [Caml-list] Ocamlopt x86-32 and SSE2
On Sunday 10 May 2009 03:16:49 Seo Sanghyeon wrote: > 2009/5/10 Goswin von Brederlow : > > Having ocaml require SSE2 is quite unacceptable for someone with a Via > > C7 cpu (they don't have SSE2, right?) Is it really that much work for > > ocaml to use option 3? > > Maybe not, but don't underestimate tiny inconveniences! Even if it is > tiny more work to support x87, it could be a difference of doing it and > not doing it. > http://lesswrong.com/lw/f1/beware_trivial_inconveniences/ If you want to avoid inconvenience, why not use LLVM to replace several of the existing backends? -- Dr Jon Harrop, Flying Frog Consultancy Ltd. http://www.ffconsultancy.com/?e ___ Caml-list mailing list. Subscription management: http://yquem.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/caml-list Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
