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=0.0 required=5.0 tests=AWL autolearn=disabled version=3.1.3 X-Original-To: caml-list@yquem.inria.fr Delivered-To: caml-list@yquem.inria.fr Received: from mail2-relais-roc.national.inria.fr (mail2-relais-roc.national.inria.fr [192.134.164.83]) by yquem.inria.fr (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4CAC7BBC4 for ; Mon, 2 Mar 2009 19:37:53 +0100 (CET) X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Filtered: true X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Result: Ao0CAM+2q0nUGyoGkWdsb2JhbACUcAEBAQEJCwoHEQOzGwiNVYJiCIEwBg X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="4.38,290,1233529200"; d="scan'208";a="21935273" Received: from smtp6-g21.free.fr ([212.27.42.6]) by mail2-smtp-roc.national.inria.fr with ESMTP; 02 Mar 2009 19:37:52 +0100 Received: from smtp6-g21.free.fr (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by smtp6-g21.free.fr (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1045FE081A0; Mon, 2 Mar 2009 19:37:45 +0100 (CET) Received: from [192.168.1.3] (che78-2-82-237-71-191.fbx.proxad.net [82.237.71.191]) by smtp6-g21.free.fr (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1EC00E08214; Mon, 2 Mar 2009 19:37:42 +0100 (CET) Message-ID: <49AC2775.1060005@inria.fr> Date: Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:37:41 +0100 From: Xavier Leroy User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.4 (X11/20070620) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Alexy Khrabrov Cc: txr@alumni.caltech.edu, caml-list@yquem.inria.fr, Jason Hickey Subject: Re: [Caml-list] The new OCaml book (Objective Caml Programming Language by Tim Rentsch) References: <200903021621.n22GL4Pr020568@alumnus.caltech.edu> In-Reply-To: X-Enigmail-Version: 0.95.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam: no; 0.00; ocaml:01 ocaml:01 criticizing:01 elders:98 caml-list:01 caml:02 caml:02 springer:02 objective:02 noting:02 well-written:03 languages:03 cambridge:03 programming:03 programming:03 > Overall, I can't help seeing that any author who isn't known on this > list ends up with a questionable book -- first Smith and now Rentsch. > Perhaps the elders should form a book vetting committee? Well, the power to decide is in the hands of publishers (initially) and customers (later). But I can assure you that reputable publishing houses like Springer, Cambridge University Press or MIT Press do sollicit opinions from academics like me and take them into account. Their area editors attend major conferences like Principles of Programming Languages and it's always a pleasure to chat with them. But there isn't much that can be done with less reputable publishers and self-publishing, as Alexy remarked. Coming back to the Hickey/Rentsch book(s), I feel deeply sad about the mess that is unfolding on this list. I proofread a draft of Jason Hickey's book, at his request, and found it very good and just what the OCaml community is still missing: a well-written, English-language book on Caml appropriate both as a reference and as teaching material. (I'm not criticizing the other books in english on OCaml -- thanks God they exist! -- just noting that they don't quite fit this exact purpose.) What we now have is lawsuit material... I sincerely hope some kind of agreement can still be found at this point. - Xavier Leroy