op-ti-mize [verb (trans.)]* … (gcc) to modify executable code so that it fails more quickly.
Gentoo users in shambles
How do they avoid the subsequent bugs O3 tends to produce?
Not like Ubuntu works very well on old hardware but hopefully O2 support will still be there. Many people need it.
-O2 vs -O3 adds
-fgcse-after-reload -fipa-cp-clone -floop-interchange -floop-unroll-and-jam -fpeel-loops -fpredictive-commoning -fsplit-loops -fsplit-paths -ftree-loop-distribution -ftree-partial-pre -funswitch-loops -fvect-cost-model=dynamic -fversion-loops-for-strides
I don’t think any of these optimizations require more modern hardware?
Right. GCC -f optimizations are basically like “how hard are we going to try to be clever” and are, I believe, orthogonal to the actual instructions used. Machine dependent args start with -m, like -march or -mavx etc.
