[Beowulf] SPEC CPU 2006 released

[Geoff Jacobs]

Vincent Diepeveen wrote:
> The programs inside spec are open source.
> 
> For example 458.sjeng is the free sjeng 11.2 version,
> which we gave a 150MB hashtable and fixed a few old bugs which the
> compiler guys noticed past years when testrunning specint2006.
> 
> Lucky there were more bugs in compilers than in the code to be fixed.
> 
> It's simply nearly impossible to license for example my diep's source
> code to
> spec. Not because i would mind those compiler guys have my diep's source
> code,
> as it will only have a positive effect that their compiler gets fast for
> my code.
> 
> But competitors will be able to simply buy a cheap spec license and see
> my source code.
> 
> As a result only non-commercial code will show up in spec.

Man, that's what lawyers are for.

> That's the only disadvantage of spec, and it is a non-solvable problem
> in gametree search.
> 
> So apart from this single problem, and the 2 year unnecessary delay to
> create the testsuite,
> what they do is pretty good idea in terms of benchmarking.
> 
> Someone without ties to a company must make a benchmark for systems, and
> let's face it.
> 95% of all persons on this list are totally subjective, some because
> they are paid by some company
> and therefore will only see that company or one of its business partners
> as best, and again
> others are still believing too much in the past where the hardware field
> advances quickly.
> 
> So someone must do objective testing with software of what is faster.
> 
> Then you get a compiler problem. So you need source code.
> 
> In all that spec is doing a reasonable good job compared to others.
> 
> Find me 1 site that 'tests' hardware that's objective. Spec is the best
> compromise.

I should have been more specific and said that I do not believe any
integrated benchmarks packaged and shipped by SPEC are in any WSOF Open
Source or Free Software. Apparently some software included in SPECCpu
2006 is in fact licensed under the GPL, including sjeng. Possibly some
other Free Software and OSS licenses are represented as well.

To use the benchmark itself requires a license from SPEC.

-- 
Geoffrey D. Jacobs

Go to the Chinese Restaurant,
Order the Special