A piece of software I want to compile requires LAPACK. Fine, I go to SlackBuilds.org and under the lapack page is the following:

The BLAS library on SlackBuilds is not optimized, so I checked out ATLAS. In its install directions, I find the following:

It then gives some instructions on compiling ATLAS with LAPACK installed and later it tells how to add LAPACK when ATLAS is already installed.

The quote from SlackBuilds suggests that ATLAS can build my tuned LAPACK, while ATLAS says it on does a handful of routines.

So, can anyone advise me on how best to proceed with installing these libraries?

Thanks.

Hi,

Yes that package description should explicitly say that ATLAS only provides a subset of LAPACK (although the ATLAS documentation does explain how to build a full LAPACK into the package).

LAPACK uses the BLAS to perform vector-vector, matrix-vector and matrix-matrix operations, so swapping out the reference BLAS on slackbuilds.org for one tuned to your processor (Intel MKL or AMD ACML) should allow some of LAPACK's operations to run faster.
I didn't package ATLAS because it is fairly complex to build, though making a SlackBuild for it is on my to-do list.

The reference BLAS and LAPACK were a quick-and-dirty way to get SciPy installed on my computer, and for most small projects they work just fine.
When you need to process large amounts of data or are doing tons of matrix-matrix operations then having a fast BLAS and LAPACK are really necessary.

Also, what software are you trying to install? Perhaps we can help.

The software is called JAGS (Just Another Gibbs Sampler).

http://www-fis.iarc.fr/~martyn/software/jags/

So, can I use the SlackBuilds LAPACK with an ATLAS build, or should I go the route of building all from source?

For now, you can just install BLAS and LAPACK from SlackBuilds, and if it turns out that you need extra performance, then give ATLAS a try.

For what it's worth (especially coming from someone who isn't really familiar with the software involved), I'd like to see an option within the lapack build script which allows you to install the atlas portions with it. In other words, if the user gets the atlas stuff separately and tells the build script that it's present, then the atlas stuff will be part of the resulting package.

Perhaps that's a horrible idea for whatever reason, and if so, LART is accepted. :-)

I have experience with both BLAS and LAPACK and have used them along with ARPACK for eigensystem analysis. I have always used the free ones from http://www.netlib.org. The slackbuilds also compile and work fine.

However, if you want machine optimized versions, you need to purchase them from a vendor. Intel sells MKL. There are vendors that sell ACML.

I used MKL only briefly. If I remember correctly, I had to also use it in conjunction with the Intel compiler. I have not used ACML.

BTW statguy, please post back and tell us if you managed to get JAGS working.
If there are problems building software using the BLAS and LAPACK from SlackBuilds I'd like to know so I can fix them.

I also had MKL installed for a short period, but never had to pay for it. I think there is a license that allows you to use MKL for free as long as it is for personal or academic use, but even then it is very restricted

Goto BLAS also has a fairly strict license and isn't really free software per se, but at least they give you the source code and you can do almost anything with it as long as it isn't for commercial use.

Yes, JAGS successfully compiled with the BLAS and LAPACK SlackBuilds. I ran a test suite, which took awhile, but completed without error and in agreement to the benchmark values.

Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback.
I have a lot on my plate right now, but once I have some spare time I will try to make an ATLAS SlackBuild and post back here with details

I also need to build JAGS, but wasn't able to find a slackBuild for it so far. Could you help?

# 11 .

Please do not use (old) LQ threads for off topic questions ..
http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/rules.html


`jags.slackbuild' : https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all#...ags.slackbuild
EDIT : See post #14

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I hoped for an answer (possibly) from statguy.

I know about the slackBuild from slacky.eu that appears in google-searches, but it is not for the MCMC-sampler, but rather for some utility to browse SAMBA-shares.

Sorry if I have broken some rules -- still new here...

# 13 .

OK, you can build a Slackware package with 'src2pkg'.
http://distro.ibiblio.org/amigolinux/download/src2pkg/ → src2pkg-2.91-noarch-1.txz

... from JAGS-3.4.0.tar.gz http://sourceforge.net/projects/mcmc...GS/3.x/Source/

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1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks, that sounds promising.