[Mpi-forum] The const proposal - Ticket 140

[Richard Treumann]

All -

The signatories of this letter represent the majority of MPI implementors
participating in the MPI Forum. We are concerned that proposal #140 ("Add
const Keyword to the C bindings") has a number of issues which suggest
delaying to MPI-3 would be appropriate.

In particular, the proposal:

- Is likely to pass a simple majority vote, but does not carry the support
of the majority of MPI implementors, suggesting consensus has not been
reached.
- Changes 90+ MPI API interfaces, which is not a "trivial" change and
therefore does not meet the intent of the MPI-2.2 process.
- Is not needed to fix any serious bug in the standard text or to solve an
issue that cannot easily be avoided by the MPI application.
- Does not offer any demonstrable optimization opportunities for
implementation or application, but may constrain future implementation
opportunities.

Therefore, we ask for your assistance in deferring proposal #140 to the
MPI-3 process, where more time can be spent assessing its impact.

Thank you,

- Cisco:    Jeff Squires
- Intel:    Alexander Supalov & Keith Underwood
- Sandia:   Brian Barrett
- IBM:      Richard Treumann
- QLogic:   Avneesh Pant
- UTenn:    George Bosilca
- HP:       David George Solt
- UHouston: Edgar Gabriel
- Myricom:  Patrick Geoffray
- ORNL:     Richard Graham
- Sun:      Terry Dontje
- NEC:      Hubert Ritzdorf & Jesper Traeff



Dick Treumann  -  MPI Team
IBM Systems & Technology Group
Dept X2ZA / MS P963 -- 2455 South Road -- Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Tele (845) 433-7846         Fax (845) 433-8363
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