From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Eric Bavier Subject: Re: forcing local build from a package definition Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 13:57:56 -0500 Message-ID: <87ppdhxpl7.fsf@gmail.com> References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:41512) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Xhk1B-0001S8-A0 for guix-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 24 Oct 2014 14:55:26 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Xhk16-0004pg-Qo for guix-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 24 Oct 2014 14:55:21 -0400 Received: from mail-ig0-x230.google.com ([2607:f8b0:4001:c05::230]:33409) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Xhk16-0004pV-KF for guix-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 24 Oct 2014 14:55:16 -0400 Received: by mail-ig0-f176.google.com with SMTP id hn18so900976igb.15 for ; Fri, 24 Oct 2014 11:55:15 -0700 (PDT) In-reply-to: List-Id: "Development of GNU Guix and the GNU System distribution." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: Federico Beffa Cc: Guix-devel Federico Beffa writes: > Hi, > > I'm preparing a package for ATLAS (Automatically Tuned Linear Algebra > Software). The library provides functions from LAPACK which are automatically > speed optimized for the hardware on which the library is built (the > optimization takes place during the build phase). ATLAS provides only a handful of the LAPACK routines. The primary focus is on BLAS routines. In order for ATLAS to provide a full lapack experience, it needs to be configured with the netlib lapack (which is where our current lapack package comes from). > My question is the following: is there a way to force a local build from a > package definition (without having to pass '--no-substitutes' to > guix)? I don't think this is necessary... > If not, what do you think about explicitly stating in the description of the > package that it MUST be installed with the '--no-substitutes' flag and, if the > user does not do so, hydra may provide a package which does not run on the > user hardware? ATLAS frequently pulls its tuning configuration information from a table of known values at configuration time. I think there is also a way to tell it which architecture it should be built for. > Most other distributions deliver binary packages which have been compiled for > a very general CPU. However, this not satisfactory since it results in a much > slower library. Guix is in a nice position to provide a good performance > version of the library and I think we should do so. You may be interested in exploring the BLIS library, https://code.google.com/p/blis/. It doesn't require build-time performance-tuning, and often significantly outperforms ATLAS http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/flame/pubs/BLISTOMSrev2.pdf -- Eric Bavier Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments. See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html