[petsc-dev] Adding support memkind allocators in PETSc

[Jeff Hammond]

On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 9:58 PM, Jed Brown <jed at jedbrown.org> wrote:
> Jeff Hammond <jeff.science at gmail.com> writes:
>> The beauty of git/github is one can make branches to try out anything
>> they want even if Jed thinks that he knows better than Intel how to
>> write system software for Intel's hardware.
>
> I'm objecting to the interface.  I think that if they try to get memkind
> merged into the existing libnuma project, they'll see similar
> resistance.  It is essential for low-level interfaces to create
> foundations that can be reliably built upon, not gushing wounds that
> bleed complexity into everything built on top.

Step 1: Commit a change associated with the new interface function.
Step 2: Commit a change implementing the new interface function.
Step 3: File a pull request.

>> This link is equivalent to pushing the "Fork" button on Github's
>> memkind page: https://github.com/memkind/memkind#fork-destination-box.
>> I'm sure that the memkind developers would be willing to review your
>> pull request once you've implemented memkind_move_pages().
>
> 1. I cannot test it because I don't have access to the hardware.

The memkind library itself was developed entirely without access to
the hardware to which you refer, so this complaint is not relevant.

> 2. I think memkind is solving the wrong problem in the wrong way.

It is more correct to say it is solving a different problem than the
one you care about.  memkind is the correct way to solve the problem
it is trying to solve.  Please stop equating your disagreement with
the problem statement as evidence that the solution is terrible.

> 3. According to Richard, the mature move_pages(2) interface has been
> implemented.  That's what I wanted, so I'll just use that -- memkind
> dependency gone.

Does this mean that you will stop complaining about memkind, since it
is not directly relevant to your life?  I would like that.

Jeff

-- 
Jeff Hammond
jeff.science at gmail.com
http://jeffhammond.github.io/