[Rd] R with redhat 7 (PR#732)

[Peter Dalgaard BSA]

hyu@stats.uwo.ca writes:

> Full_Name: Hao Yu
> Version: 1.1.0 and 1.1.1
> OS: Redhat 7 Linux (intel)
> Submission from: (NULL) (129.100.45.161)
> 
> 
> Hi, I am not sure this is well know problem but I could not find anyone mention
> it. 
> The problem is related to build R on redhat 7. After got src.rpm and tried to
> rebuild it, it failed on testing accuracy. Further it shows that under R,
> .Machine gives some numbers that maybe are not correct. I also tried the most
> recent one (November 6) and failed. The strange thing is that the R (1.1.0) that
> comes with powertools of redhat 7 has exactly the same problem. All three R
> gives the same results for .Machine. See the following outputs. 

We (R-core + Martyn Plummer who builds the RPM files on CRAN)
discussed this earlier today. It is a problem with the RedHat
"unofficical 2.96" gcc compiler which seems to be overly zealous on
some optimizations. The build is said to work if you build R
unoptimized.

We're strongly considering to say that R *requires* another gcc
compiler rather than trying to work around bugs in a compiler that
should never have been released.

The powertools version appears to have been built by disabling the
regression test (make check)! It might be worth filing a formal bug
report with RedHat on that matter. (It is not merely a matter of
cosmetics, those machine constants actually get used for determining
convergence criteria and the like. Having them set too low could send
algorithms into infinite loops.)

I think Martyn Plummer is about to produce a working RPM based on a
better compiler. However, if you want to compile add-on packages, it
might still be a good idea to install an alternative compiler for
yourself. 

-- 
   O__  ---- Peter Dalgaard             Blegdamsvej 3  
  c/ /'_ --- Dept. of Biostatistics     2200 Cph. N   
 (*) \(*) -- University of Copenhagen   Denmark      Ph: (+45) 35327918
~~~~~~~~~~ - (p.dalgaard@biostat.ku.dk)             FAX: (+45) 35327907
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