Build a complete optimized Slackware using sbopkg?
 

Just a question out of curiosity: Is there a build-queue that can be used with sbopkg to build a complete Slackware repository from scratch?

Just asking, because the 32 bit version of Slackware is suited to run on older computers by compiling for i486 architecture. I want to know if it is possible to rebuild the complete repository with optimizations for newer architectures, so that the programs can make use of the features of newer processors, like MMX, SSE and so on.

sbopkg only works with SlackBuilds.org scripts, not the main Slackware build scripts.

And as to your question, the packages ALREADY take advantage of the optimizations where they are available. You're not missing anything by not recompiling.

So the mencoder package compiled to work on i486 takes advantage of the advanced features like SSE? I didn't know that. How does it the work on CPUs without these features?

Do not let yoourself be fooled by the "i486" in the package names. The code is compiled to be compatible with the i486 instruction set but will use any i686 CPU capabilities your processor has to offer.

Eric

OK, thanks for your explanation. Didn't know that.

I hear this a lot but the whole truth is that sbopkg works with SBo-compatible hierarchies and scripts (which may be what is meant but a new user probably wouldn't understand it that way). For instance, you can have a local repo of non-SBo buildscripts. (I have fvwm 2.5.x (since it's not suitable for SBo because fvwm 2.4.x is an official Slackware package) and so on.)

<digression>Also, while there's no sense in trying to use sbopkg to rebuild Slackware (there's no sense in rebuilding Slackware at all - it's not a linear process and you'd be missing Slack's mojo anyway), you can get as far as dumping Slackware's source directory into local (or linking it to local) and ending up with a pile of some of the packages. At least 'sbopkg -V local -e continue -b ed -b time' build those two packages and deposited them in /tmp/SBo.

Slackware builds don't have info files and, unless they were originally SBo scripts, Slackware scripts don't have the OUTPUT variable (which sbopkg currently relies on in a critical spot) and some apps (like bsd-games) don't respect much of anything you tell them and so on. So there are errors with all packages and serious ones with some of them and, as I say, no point in it even if it would work. So I'm not suggesting doing this. :) I'm just saying that sbopkg is intended to build personal/compatible stuff and, with a little bull-headedness, can be made to do things it isn't even intended to do. It's even possible to edit the SlackBuild to produce customized output.

Just file this digression under the 'stupid' part of the principle that 'UNIX was not designed to stop its users from doing stupid things, as that would also stop them from doing clever things.'</digression>

alienBOB is correct when he says that i486 is only like a minimum requirement and pretty much everything is compiled with -mtune=i686, and some things that would be useless without at least, say, MMX or SSE do have that. MEncoder in particular is compiled with --enable-runtime-cpudetection.

Regarding newer architectures, newer processors... why not run x86_64? :)

I use x86_64 on my systems, and they run fine. As said in my first post, this was more a question out of curiosity. But regarding newer processors, the i686 architecture was introduced with the Pentium Pro, so in this view the Pentium 4 (and only a few of them were 64 bit capable) is a rather new processor.

But as said, given the information by AlienBob, slakmagik and you, this makes no sense.