[openssl-users] Assembler Optimizations in 'crypto' on Windows

[Steven Kneizys]

Just my opinion ... but ...

While nasm is the only supported assembler, I have been able to get masm to
work but I often have to tweak the perl code a bit.  Every few months I
have been testing and reporting my findings to the openssl-dev group about
my results.  When possible folks seem to be able to incorporate changes
that help make things better on a variety of isssues folks submit patches
for.  And, one recent 64 bit build required no tweaks using ml64.exe so it
is possible to use it sometimes.  However, there are some other really high
priorities with getting the openssl product as safe and reliable as
possible.  The support cannot be for all available tools and nasm is the
best choice.

Nasm allows a number of platforms that masm does not, it is open source so
any issues can be addressed quickly.   For just windows I would like masm
to work, but I have used both and haven't been disappointed.  The main
problem I have is with auditors, sometimes they ask about where an
executable like openssl comes from, was it obtained from the web as a
binary or built, and if built was it built via tools downloaded (and
possibly binary) or from the vendor (such as HP, IBM, MS, etc.)  The only
reason I can see at this point to try use masm is if you have a mandate to
use it and don't mind some possible hours of frustration as you work
through any issues, but my advice is to download nasm and give it a try.
It is free and for me quite reliable.

-- 
Steve Kneizys
Senior Business Process Engineer @ Ferrilli
web: http://www.ferrilli.com/ <http://www.figsolutions.com/>

On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 8:29 AM, Deepak <dpb795795 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear OpenSSL User,
>
> I am working on porting 0.9.8h based 'OpenSSL customization' to 1.0.1.
>
> Earlier this code was using 'cpp' as input parameter to the Perl scripts.
>
> 1. What option shall I use now for Windows?
>
> As per documentation, nasm will be the only supported assembler. But
> currently both masm (option win32) and nasm (option win32n) work.
>
> 2. Why nasm is prefered over masm? Maybe ml.exe is better since it comes
> from ms.
>
> Thank you.
>
> _______________________________________________
> openssl-users mailing list
> To unsubscribe: https://mta.openssl.org/mailman/listinfo/openssl-users
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mta.openssl.org/pipermail/openssl-users/attachments/20150114/c69c480f/attachment.html>