[Numpy-discussion] Intel MKL on Core2 system

[David Cournapeau]

On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 3:15 AM, Ryan May <rmay31 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I noticed the following in numpy/distutils/system_info.py while trying to
> get numpy to build against MKL:
>
>             if cpu.is_Itanium():
>                 plt = '64'
>                 #l = 'mkl_ipf'
>             elif cpu.is_Xeon():
>                 plt = 'em64t'
>                 #l = 'mkl_em64t'
>             else:
>                 plt = '32'
>                 #l = 'mkl_ia32'
>
> So in the autodetection for MKL, the only way to get plt (platform) set to
> 'em64t' is to test true for a Xeon.  This function returns false on my Core2
> Duo system, even though the platform is very much 'em64t'.  I think that
> check should instead read:
>
> elif cpu.is_Xeon() or cpu.is_Core2():
>
> Thoughts?

I think this whole code is inherently fragile. A much better solution
is to make the build process customization easier and more
straightforward. Auto-detection will never work well.

David