Re: NetBSD speed curiosities

[John Klos <john%ziaspace.com@localhost>]

Hi,

> Oh, also, DHRYSTONE IS A TERRIBLE AWFUL BENCHMARK, and mostly discredited. 
> Its problem is that it is TOO simple, i.e. wildly subject to the behaviour of 
> particular operations rather than a good mix, and easily gamed (many vendors 
> did).
>
> Please find a better integer benchmark (I came to like fhourstones, but I am 
> not sure how much of a better mix that represents). Most hardware benchmark 
> papers publish at least half a dozen different benchmarks in order not to be 
> skewed by Dhrystone-type effects.

It's not about benchmarking different systems - it's about benchmarking 
the exact same system with different operating systems or different 
versions of the same operating system.

This is precisely where we want something that's too simple - we want to 
look at why this simple bit of c code is a fraction of the speed 
under modern NetBSD.

John