[Rd] OpenBLAS in everyday R?

Kenny Bell
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 20:28:10 -0000

Hi R-devel list,

OpenBLAS is readily available for unix-likes:

https://cloud.r-project.org/web/packages/gcbd/vignettes/gcbd.pdf

However, my questions are:

1) Would R-devel consider using OpenBLAS for the main distribution of R for
all platforms including Windows?
2) If so, would R-devel set the default multi-thread level to the number of
(real) cores on a machine?

My sense is there're a lot of wasted resources on laptops and personal
desktops around the world that could be utilised by such a switch. I
believe most unix-like users don't know about OpenBLAS and are blissfully
ignorant of the available speed gains. It seems to be quite difficult for a
typical Windows user to get this done today.

Thanks heaps,
Kenny