Re: [Caml-list] Ocamlopt x86-32 and SSE2

[Goswin von Brederlow <goswin-v-b@web.de>]

"CUOQ Pascal" <Pascal.CUOQ@cea.fr> writes:

> Xavier Leroy <Xavier.Leroy@inria.fr> 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