The Linux Kernel Looks To Drop Support For Intel's ICC Compiler

[ryao]

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us...plete-icx.html

Intel claims to have made substantial performance improvements in certain code. It is a shame that they do not contribute those optimization passes to LLVM/Clang.

[ryao]

What of that did they stop doing 10 years ago? ICC/ICX is still proprietary; the "optimization notice" was in fact removed, but only pretty recently; and AFAIK, fast-math is still enabled by default.

“puts certain hardware at a disadvantage on purpose”

[ryao]

back then you had to pay for the ICC and i was not sure how long the it department is going to subscribe for a license (public research facility). Better dont get trapped in the vendor lockin. It was more a "curiosity thing".

I remember being able to download it for free around 2011.

[archkde]

They claimed to have stopped doing that more than 10 years ago. Also, if I recall correctly, much of what put AMD at a disadvantage was in Intel’s math libraries (which could be used with any compiler), so the blame is misplaced.

What of that did they stop doing 10 years ago? ICC/ICX is still proprietary; the "optimization notice" was in fact removed, but only pretty recently; and AFAIK, fast-math is still enabled by default.

[ryao]

Good riddance. Nobody needs a proprietary and non-compliant compiler that puts certain hardware at a disadvantage on purpose, when better alternatives are available.

They claimed to have stopped doing that more than 10 years ago. Also, if I recall correctly, much of what put AMD at a disadvantage was in Intel’s math libraries (which could be used with any compiler), so the blame is misplaced.

[CommunityMember]

why would a piece of software be dependant on the compiler anyway? if it follows standards, it should be compilable on anything that implements it

The Linux kernel was not strictly C standard compliant. The code base was written with gcc-isms, and the build system presumed gcc (and related utilities). Over the years some of those gcc-isms were replaced with C compliant equivalents, and clang/llvm added some acceptance (and some cases ignoring) gcc-isms and compiler flags, but until recently, making the kernel build with anything other than gcc required out-of-tree patches.

[phuclv]

why would a piece of software be dependant on the compiler anyway? if it follows standards, it should be compilable on anything that implements it

unfortunately Linux kernel uses a lot of GCC extensions. Clang had to catch up with those extensions and compile options in order to build Linux

[Svyatko]

Another reason: Intel was developing compilers in Russia.
Now Intel Labs closed, Intel website for technical details and drivers are unavailable from Russia.
Twitter website is unavailable (Russian own sanctions for mass media), and many other sites.
There is a big halt for Russian IT.

[szymon_g]

why would a piece of software be dependant on the compiler anyway? if it follows standards, it should be compilable on anything that implements it

[archkde]

Good riddance. Nobody needs a proprietary and non-compliant compiler that puts certain hardware at a disadvantage on purpose, when better alternatives are available.