[Numpy-discussion] Changing the distributed binary for numpy 1.0.4 for windows ?

[Christopher Barker]

Fernando Perez wrote:
> a simple, reasonable solution that is likely to work: ship TWO
> binaries of Numpy/Scipy each time:
> 
> 1. {numpy,scipy}-reference: built with the reference blas from netlib,
> no atlas, period.
> 
> 2. {}-atlas: built with whatever the developers have at the time,
> which will likely mean these days a core 2 duo with SSE2 support.
> What hardware it was built on should be indicated, so people can at
> least know this fact.

I disagree -- having an atlas version that only works on recent hardware 
is just asking for complaints -- I think the ONLY way to go is for the 
"standard" binary to be universal. Instructions should be provided for 
building other versions, and if third parties want to distribute 
processor-dependent versions, then great, but that's an extra.

By the way, I've always been confused by static linking of lapack/atlas 
-- it seems to me that this kind of thing is on of the best uses of 
dynamic linking -- the main binary is processor dependent, and it is 
linked, at runtime, with the host's processor specific lib. -- could we 
do it that way:

The standard distro includes a universal dynamic lib.

Folks build processor-specific libs that can be dropped in to replace 
the universal one if someone so desires.

Then it's a "small" step to include a runtime tool that selects the best 
lib it can find on the system.

-Chris


-- 
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
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