[Beowulf] CCL:Opteron or Nocona ? (fwd from m.somers@chem.leidenuniv.nl)

[Mark Hahn]

> Maybe the license terms changed again, but can please anyone clarify.

you can't use the intel compiler under the noncom license 
if you're using it for anything for which you are compensated.

if you're an opensource developer who is paid to develop, 
you can't use it.  students can use it on classwork, assuming
they're not being compensated for going to school ;)

personally, this seems silly: the compiler exists for the purpose of 
getting people to use Intel chips, and to do so effectively.
it should be a loss leader - heck, Intel should pay people to use it!
support is completely orthogonal to this.

my guess is that some Intel PHB got bitched at by a competing SW vendor.
either that or some MBA got of his/her leash.

I would very much like to see a good comparison of Intel compilers
versus the alternatives.  I know good things about Pathscale, for instance,
and gcc 4.0 and 4.1 seem pretty impressive.

so: how would you go about comparing a set of compilers?  assuming you 
want something more general than just running it on your pet code.