LinuxDNA Supercharges Linux with the Intel C/C++ Compiler

[ixania]

Exciting news from the LinuxDNA project, which earlier this month successfully compiled a recent Linux kernel with the Intel C/C++ compiler (ICC). This is not just a compile without errors, this is — for the most part — a fully bootable, compatible Linux kernel that can boot into a full Linux system. The full system is based on Gentoo Linux, and utilizes kernel version 2.6.22.

The project's goal is to be able to maintain an Intel-compiler-compatible kernel source along side the current kernel. A few remaining issues that need to be resolved before moving to 2.6.23 and beyond are under investigation.

One might ask: Why compile the kernel with something besides gcc?

The answer: Performance.

Earlier work at compiling the Linux kernel with ICC found that ICC provided up to a 40% boost in performance. Ingo A. Kubblin, a German developer that worked on the original ICC porting project in 2004, gave the following quote:
"... boost up to 40% for certain kernel parts and an average boost of 8-9% possible"

...

[rojer]

лучше бы работали над gcc, чтобы он компилировал не хуже интела. тогда бонус получило бы не только древнее ядро (2.6.22, "moving to 2.6.23"? алё, гараж, на дворе уже 2.6.29), а вообще всё что собирается гццой