On Mon, 10 Sep 2001, Clarence Verge wrote:
> I can't yet see why I might want to RE-compile programs that someone else
> wrote (and surely tested) unless I thought there was something wrong with
> them, and then I would be more likely to just avoid them.
In addition to what Richard said, the compiler can
optimize a program for 386, 486, 586, or 686. If it
was compiled for a 586 (which is the case for the
default Mandrake distribution) you can't run it on a
386 or 486.
If you have a 686, a program compiled for a 386
will certainly run, but not as efficiently as it could
if it were actually compiled for the 686.
So, one reason to compile (some of) your binaries is
to make them run faster, or with fewer CPU cycles.
> If Linux is so flaky (I KNOW that's gonna cause a rukus) that a program
> compiled by someone else yesterday won't run on my Linux today, then I
> would have to conclude that Linux is still too immature for general use. ;-)
Nah, no rukus. It's not about whether it will run
or not, but about how efficiently it'll run.
Even the pre-compiled kernels on RH6.2 come compiled/
optimized for different processors. (I don't recall if
this was the case with 5.x.)
kernel-2.2.14-5.0.i386.rpm - 639888 byte vmlinuz
kernel-2.2.14-5.0.i586.rpm - 640052 byte vmlinuz
kernel-2.2.14-5.0.i686.rpm - 622249 byte vmlinuz
- Steve
