Talk:GNU Multiple Precision Arithmetic Library

Is GMP required to build GCC or GCC is required to build GMP? Could someone please elaborate on that?

BOTH. Like any program written in C, GMP needs to be compiled with a C compiler. The GCC compiler will fill such a need. Later versions of GCC use GMP to convert calls to math functions where the argument is a constant into a constant. For example, when the compiler encounters sin(3.14), sqrt(25), etc., it will convert these into actual constants instead of function calls.

MPIR

I have added a link to MPIR an open source multiprecision integer (bignum) library forked from the GMP (GNU Multi Precision) and that has a windows friendly build system and that is compatible to GMP and it is used by many first class project (Sage_(mathematics_software). I have seen that any reference to MPIR library has been repeatedly deleted from this page, I hope that this time this link will remain. I sincerely hope that these deletions are not related to the fact that, according to many posts around the net, "MPIR was started as an angry fork of GMP". ALoopingIcon (talk) 22:37, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Undid an anonymous, unmotivated attempt of removing the MPIR wiki reference. Please elaborate here before removing. ALoopingIcon (talk) 22:01, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Again. Please elaborate here before removing. ALoopingIcon (talk) 08:50, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

This page is about the GNU project and specifically about GMP. MPIR is, if I understand it correctly, not GMP or part of the GNU project. Please write about MPIR in an MPIR page, where you might explain about your goals with it. Trying to motivate writing about MPIR on this page with a Sage reference is misleading and irrelevant, given that MPIR is a project organised withing Sage itself. Also, that Sage or some other project uses some package, does not motivate why that package should be dicussed in a page about GMP. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.237.222.220 (talk) 13:15, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

I sincerely do not understand why there is someone that want to remove a wiki reference to the MPIR library. MPIR is a LGPL library that forked from GMP to allow easier compilation for MS based compilers. I think that a reference here is quite well motivated, so I add it again. So, just to clarify, MPIR is a fork of GMP so a link in the GMP page is relevant. ALoopingIcon (talk) 13:55, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Please do not add this link again without motivating that there should be a link to it. If the link is "well motivated", then let us hear the motivation! Else, please respect the subject of this article, which is GMP. Extension libraries (e.g. MPFR) and significant projects using GMP (such as Python, Ruby) are however relevant. The discussion of kaffe's previous use of GMP should probably be edited out, though. Note also that there is no links to the many other bignum libraries on this page; there is a separate page for that on Wikipedia. At that page, MPIR should absolutely be added (unless it is already there). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.237.222.220 (talk) 15:09, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Re-inserted link. Link is clearly relevant: "MPIR a LGPL fork of GNU MP with fully compatible interface which (among other goals) aims to provide MSVC-based compilation system for Windows platforms." MPIR is a well established derivative work, and also it extends the library into another platforms. The fact that a project X is extended to platform Y is clearly a relevant thing to say about X. Therefore, MPIR should by all means be mentioned here.

The only reason I can think of why this link was repeatedly removed in the past is POV bias agaisnt MPIR. Please don't remove the link again. --Mtarini (talk) 16:47, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Undid again. I kindly ask to the anonymous Stockholmer (all the anonymous censoring actions came from IP's located in Stockholm) to stop removing a the link to a legitimate LGPL fork. I would like to remember him/her that forks are quite relevant to the topic of the article, for example look at the FreeMind article: it has a section devoted to the forks it spawned (Freeplane and SciPlore_MindMapping). So, please, do not remove it again.

Moreover I would like remember him/her that if he/she is involved in the development of GMP, he/she should abstain from editing this page for plain lack of NPOV. (Useless disclaimer: I am not involved in any way in the development of MPIR). ALoopingIcon (talk) 21:56, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Please stop this nonsense now. There is a page about MPIR here at Wikipedia, tagged for its poor quality. Please do productive work on that page instead of vandalising this page about a separate project. A list of bignum libraries might be another useful contribution. Making a POV list of bignum libraries here at the article about one specific bignum library is destructive, and moves away the from the focus of the article. The people reinserting the pro-MPIR lines should make serious contributions to the discussion, not ust say the linke is "well motivated". How do they motivate that other libraries that have taken GMP code are not mentioned, except POV? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.132.75.8 (talk) 06:47, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

I stop to revert your steady censoring actions to not incur in the WP:3RR. Again it seems that you do not accept the fact that legitimate forks are relevant to the article of an open source package. Raised the of NPOV on the noticeboard. ALoopingIcon (talk) 11:42, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Agreed. This page is about GMP. GMP has been extended by MPIR so to work on a different platform (among other things). This is a piece of info *about GMP*, a relevant and even important one. MPIR is not "discussed" here, it is "mentioned", and the mention is totally relevant. Let's hope this senseless censorship by anonymous cease. --Mtarini (talk) 13:29, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

I suggest that ALoopingIcon and Mtarini is one and the same person, using two identities. MPIR is irrelevant in the context of GMP. MPIR does not work on any platform whatsoever not supported by GMP (not that this is relevant). One must keep the focus of a page here at Wikipedia, things that might seem slightly relevant from a POV perspective ("I like library X, so let's mention that in as many places as possible") cannot be added to a page about another library. Since if that principle was invoked, pages would end up very poorly focused. GNU TLS, GNU libc, which are truly relevant packages, have also "forked" GMP. And so have many other packages. The real reason why people add the link to MPIR is a MPIR bias. You like MPIR, therefore you want to scribble its name at a very public place. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.237.222.220 (talk) 14:54, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

This discussion is getting annoying, however since I'm pretty sure we don't want to resort to an RfC or even arbitration on this case we should find a common ground. On one hand the subject of forks is very touchy and sometimes it's hard to find sources to justify the inclusion of a unique pages for a new fork. On the other hand, by experience, an MPIR page would be merged with GMP. While I am not commenting on the inclusion or not of the MPIR link itself, it is clear that very common criticism of GMP are addressed by MPIR. A criticism section is quite common on the Wikipedia entries about open source software and GMP certainly could have one. In that case sourcing the said criticisms would require adding a link to some sources which would probably include an MPIR link. As such, I consider that either the link should be kept or that someone include a section addressing the common criticisms with relevant sources. BlanchardJ (talk) 16:33, 3 November 2010 (UTC)