[Rd] Debate: Shall some of Microsoft R Open Code be ported to mainstream R?

[Ista Zahn]

On Mon, Oct 30, 2017 at 12:45 PM, Cohn, Robert S
<robert.s.cohn at intel.com> wrote:
> I think the thing that is missing is a simple way for end users on windows to replace blas/lapack libraries with MKL-a package that you install that puts the libraries in the right place.
>
> Microsoft provides something for their distro, but we don't have the equivalent if you get R from cran.

I don't have any interest in using a proprietary BLAS when a perfectly
good free alternative exists. If we just care about performance,
swapping out the reference BLAS for openBLAS is pretty simple
apparently:

- Download pre-compiled openblas from
https://sourceforge.net/projects/openblas/files/ (windows binaries
currently available for 2.19 but not 2.20)
- Unzip and copy libopenblas.dll to C:\Program Files\R\R-3.4.x\bin\x64
and rename it "Rblas.dll"
- Download the mingw dll's (e.g., from
https://sourceforge.net/projects/openblas/files/v0.2.15/mingw64_dll.zip/download),
unzip and copy all the dll's to C:\Program Files\R\R-3.4.x\bin\x64

Best,
Ista

>
>
> On 29 October 2017 at 22:01, Kenny Bell wrote:
>
> | User here: incorporating Intel's MKL, as MRO does, would be a very welcome
>
> | addition.
>
> |
>
> | I was an MRO user before and it improved my experience with medium data
>
> | immensely.
>
> |
>
> | They did, however, leave behind bugs here and there, especially related to
>
> | development with Rcpp, so I switched back to vanilla R.
>
>
>
> With all due respect: You may miss something. MKL has always worked with 'Base R'.
>
>
>
> As a point of reference and comparison, I set up a benchmarking and
>
> comparison package _well over half a decade ago_ and while it never get fully
>
> finished to the point of a submitted paper the vignette still stands---and
>
> demonstrates that _dropping in MKL is a one-line operation_.
>
>
>
> And always has been.  There may have been some license arbitrage: Intel was
>
> an early investor in Revo, so MKL was pushed hard.  With GotoBLAS and later
>
> OpenBLAS I cared less, but IIRC the license of MKL is a little simpler for
>
> "mere use" now.
>
>
>
> See  https://cloud.r-project.org/web/packages/gcbd/vignettes/gcbd.pdf  for more.
>
>
>
> Hth,  Dirk
>
>
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>
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