World: r3wp

Anyway, we'll make sure Red runs ok on Syllable, that's the least 
I could do. ;-)

OK :-)

The issue R2 currently has with old Linux systems is with floating 
point. That's in the math library, part of GLibC, not the kernel, 
so there's no way around it unless you use a completely different 
implementation

I'm not denying the libc interface is problematic on GNU systems, 
I'm just saying there's probably no alternative with fewer problems 
:-(

The best strategy is to keep the interface as small as possible, 
like R3

That's more of a Red problem though. Red/System doesn't have floating 
point, just integers.

But it's always good to look to the future :)

Decimal Floating-Point Math Library: http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2008/03/06/intel-decimal-floating-point-math-library/
That's interesting!

If the performances are close to classic floating point math operations, 
that would be a great alternative.

That is not to be expected, because this seems to be a software implementation

Decimal math would still be great to have

Still, the R2 problem with the math library is probably a fluke that 
can be prevented

On the one side you have a chaotic Linux ecosystem where most developers 
refuse to care about binary compatibility, on the other hand you 
have an isolated REBOL cave where Carl refuses to deal with outside 
complexity. This is a recipe for disaster. There must be some middle 
ground - as we have proven in Syllable

I was hoping that such library would use the FPU for low-level maths, 
but can't find any info about that.

I can't even find the download. Is it BSD?

Is it planned for the linker to support static libraries?

Static libs: yes, but not in the short-term (not in the next months, 
unless someone else than me implements it).

Download: that's strange, there was a download button under the title 
of the article, I've got it a few of hours ago, checking the licensing 
terms in the sources archive...

Here's the direct download link: ttp://software.intel.com/file/7242 
(~27MB)

sorry: http://software.intel.com/file/7242

It's 3 clauses BSD.

The library seems to be built upon IEEE 754 standard, so should be 
able to be accelerated by an FPU. Btw, here's the  download page: 
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-decimal-floating-point-math-library/

Thanks. Sounds good, except for the size

This IEEE 754R spec is a revision based on IEEE 754, but it seems 
to me that the decimal implementation in this library is in software, 
awaiting new FPUs (IBM already has a few (although already is not 
really a good term for 2011))

Intel means it for compliance ahead of time. I wouldn't expect them 
to compete with the performance of the future FPUs they want to sell 
us

I agree that the library size is too big anyway for a direct inclusion 
in Red's core.

An optimising static linker could make it acceptable :-)

Hi, I added a Red to the Alternatives section in REBOL Wikipedia 
page.

Thanks Ladislav. Btw, could you add links for the alternative projects?

Sure I could, but they were removed by some "purists" telling, that 
the Wikipedia was not a link repository, so I am afraid it might 
be contraproductive.

So, that Intel library is for implementing Red's equivalent of the 
money! type?

I would prefer to say "Red's analogy to the money! type", I do not 
think it is exactly equivalent.

I mean that it uses floating point hardware, but implements decimal 
math, not floating point math.

Yes, that is the "analogy" I mean.

Brian: yes, for financial usage, so might differ a bit from REBOL's 
money! type.

Cool either way, for those of us not running on IBM mainframes (which 
have this standard in hardware) :)

Doesn't the Intel Library implement the three IEE 754 types - decimal32, 
decimal64, decimal128

Aren't these also supported in recent GCC releases?

Yes

I've ported my 0MQ binding to Red

I've got the Hello World client/server example working:

http://rebol.esperconsultancy.nl/extensions/0MQ/ZeroMQ-binding.reds

There's some stuff left to straighten out, but it's painful to develop 
on WINE, so I'll continue when we can bind libc on Linux

Here are the test executables:

http://rebol.esperconsultancy.nl/extensions/0MQ/server.exe

http://rebol.esperconsultancy.nl/extensions/0MQ/client.exe

Once Red is a bit more mature, it will be quite a bit easier to write 
bindings for Red than for R3

That's pretty quick ..

Yes, I just read that running on Linux will be possible in the morning 
:-)

This has got to be the shortest time for a working rebol clone !