From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.1.3 (2006-06-01) on yquem.inria.fr X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.7 required=5.0 tests=AWL,SPF_SOFTFAIL autolearn=disabled version=3.1.3 X-Original-To: caml-list@yquem.inria.fr Delivered-To: caml-list@yquem.inria.fr Received: from concorde.inria.fr (concorde.inria.fr [192.93.2.39]) by yquem.inria.fr (Postfix) with ESMTP id 94B44BC0A for ; Mon, 18 Dec 2006 01:27:33 +0100 (CET) Received: from host15.ipowerweb.com (host15.ipowerweb.com [66.235.219.115]) by concorde.inria.fr (8.13.6/8.13.6) with ESMTP id kBI0RUsT015924 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=EDH-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA bits=168 verify=NO) for ; Mon, 18 Dec 2006 01:27:33 +0100 Received: from c-24-9-123-251.hsd1.co.comcast.net ([24.9.123.251] helo=apotheon.com) by host15.ipowerweb.com with esmtp (Exim 4.52) id 1Gw6Lm-0001ZH-Uj for caml-list@inria.fr; Sun, 17 Dec 2006 16:27:27 -0800 Received: by apotheon.com (Postfix, from userid 1000) id A41E033424; Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:27:08 -0700 (MST) Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:27:08 -0700 From: Chad Perrin To: ocaml Subject: Re: [Caml-list] OCaml on Debian or Ububtu (reprise) Message-ID: <20061218002708.GA16314@apotheon.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.13 (2006-08-11) X-Antivirus-Scanner: Clean mail though you should still use an Antivirus X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - host15.ipowerweb.com X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - inria.fr X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [47 12] / [47 12] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - apotheon.com X-Source: X-Source-Args: X-Source-Dir: X-Miltered: at concorde with ID 4585E072.001 by Joe's j-chkmail (http://j-chkmail . ensmp . fr)! X-Spam: no; 0.00; ocaml:01 0100,:01 ocaml:01 tweaking:01 uncommon:01 parsers:01 cetera:98 wholly:98 reid:98 distrib:01 wrote:01 wrote:01 caml-list:01 precisely:01 filesystem:02 On Sun, Dec 17, 2006 at 07:28:52PM +0100, Philippe Wang wrote: > Bill Wood wrote : > >Rats! I fat-fingered the original post with this subject big time; my > >apologies. Of course, I'm interested in asking this community about > >OCaml on Debian or Ubuntu. > > > >Again, apologies for the mixup. > > I don't think you should choose your linux distrib just because of that... > > Ubuntu and Debian don't aim the same kind of users. That's definitely true. For instance, Ubuntu aims to make it easier to get started, while Debian aims to make getting started fit your preferences more exactly; Ubuntu is more for people who want everything to "just work" from the very beginning, while Debian is more for people who want everything to "just keep working" once you get it working in the first place; Ubuntu better serves those who want the most common software available all the time by default without any effort, while Debian better serves those who want the widest range of software to choose from, and do not mind having to choose from amongst those options to get precisely what they want; Ubuntu tends to better suit people who don't want to have to think about security at all, while Debian tends to better suit people who want the best security configuration they can get, and are willing to spend time tweaking the system to suit their needs; Ubuntu generally provides more cutting-edge software than the more stable release branches of Debian, while Debian generally provides better tested package compatibility and more edge-case software to suit uncommon needs; et cetera. Some of this may apply to OCaml, and how you intend to make use of OCaml. For instance, assuming strong support for OCaml in both Ubuntu and Debian, Ubuntu is likely to get new versions of OCaml tools, libraries, and parsers more quickly than the main Debian release branches (Stable and Testing, specifically), while with Debian they're likely to be more stable when first introduced. Also, while wholly new tools related to OCaml development will be more likely to be eventually included in Debian, they'll typically show up more quickly in Ubuntu (if they show up at all). > > On both, there are many OCaml users and there is no reason why one would > be worse for OCaml. > > However, maybe Ubuntu community is more active now as it is _the_ fast > spreading linux distribution ! More active? Are you sure about that? It sees greater growth rates, but it'll need to see the same disparity in growth rates in knowledgeable people for years to approach the size and richness of the Debian community. It's huge -- by far the largest Linux distribution community in existence -- and the community tends toward a higher average level of technical expertise specifically because the two distributions are (as you say) aimed at different types of users. > > Make your choice for other reasons, like file systems (debian only > supports ext2 ext3 and reiserfs when you install it, while ubuntu > supports more FSs...) I'm afraid you must not be very familiar with the current state of affairs in Debian. For the last three years, I've been using XFS, from a choice of more than a half-dozen different filesystem types, with Debian installs. JFS, FAT, and other filesystem types are also available. > > Well, maybe this mailing list is not the right place to ask such a > question ;-) Sure it is. His question was about OCaml support. Both Debian and Ubuntu support OCaml in their official package repositories. It's a good question, and now it's answered. OCaml support in Debian is excellent. It's rock-solid, in fact. Ubuntu tends to be a little bit less reliable in terms of its less-mainstream packages, but that doesn't mean that its OCaml support is lacking -- I haven't tried using OCaml on Ubuntu, so you'll have to get such information from someone else. As you (Philippe Wang) seem to indicate, OCaml support is at least "good enough" in Ubuntu, in which case I agree that choice of distribution should probably be based on some other factor if the field of options before you is Ubuntu and Debian (though as I pointed out above it's possible that the differences in Ubuntu and Debian might still play a role in making the best choice). -- CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ] Brian K. Reid: "In computer science, we stand on each other's feet."