python extension, -pthreads and speed

[Joseph Heled]

Hi,

My python module is built using the recommended distutils.core, which
uses the -pthread flag. To my amazement this slows down the (-O3) code
by a factor of two (!2)

My gcc documentation says pthread is a PowerPC flag, but I guess this
is wrong.

Would my code fail if I drop this flag (Assuming I don't use threads
at all)?

Why would there be such a speed penalty?

Anyone can shed some light on that?

Thanks, Joseph

>python -V
Python 2.3

>gcc -v
Reading specs from /usr/local/lib/gcc-lib/i686-pc-linux-gnu/3.3/specs
Configured with: ../gcc-3.3/configure  : (reconfigured)
../gcc-3.3/configure --enable-languages=c,c++
Thread model: posix
gcc version 3.3