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=none 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 4DD49BC0A for ; Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:56:28 +0200 (CEST) Received: from bsd4.nyct.net (mail-out.nyct.net [216.139.141.2]) by concorde.inria.fr (8.13.6/8.13.6) with ESMTP id l3IMuQeu005679 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO) for ; Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:56:27 +0200 Received: from [192.168.42.2] ([216.139.135.144]) by bsd4.nyct.net (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id l3IMuHEm049222; Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:56:18 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from bhurt@spnz.org) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:57:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Brian Hurt X-X-Sender: bhurt@localhost To: Richard Jones Cc: Jon Harrop , Caml List Subject: Re: [Caml-list] The F#.NET Journal In-Reply-To: <20070418085354.GA9605@furbychan.cocan.org> Message-ID: References: <200704172106.38499.jon@ffconsultancy.com> <20070418085354.GA9605@furbychan.cocan.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Miltered: at concorde with ID 4626A21A.000 by Joe's j-chkmail (http://j-chkmail . ensmp . fr)! X-Spam: no; 0.00; 0100,:01 stack:01 ocaml:01 ocaml:01 2007,:98 frog:98 horde:98 suck:98 unix:01 wrote:01 wrote:01 caml-list:01 short:01 short:01 programming:03 On Wed, 18 Apr 2007, Richard Jones wrote: > On Tue, Apr 17, 2007 at 09:06:38PM +0100, Jon Harrop wrote: >> >> Flying Frog Consultancy just started the F#.NET Journal, an on-line >> publication composed of articles, example source code and tutorial videos >> aimed at beginner programmers learning the F# programming language from >> Microsoft Research: > [...] > > Does F# run on real operating systems? Does it have a full open > source stack? Overall, I see F# as a good thing for Ocaml. OK, it draws some of it's support from the Ocaml community (John Harrop here being an obvious example)- thus dilluting the pool of energy from Ocaml, at least in the short term. But any F# programmer can pick up Ocaml in short order, and vice versa (not unlike the C#/Java communities). But I think were F# will really draw it's people from is outside the community. It'll draw from the vast horde of C#/VB/C++ Windows programmers. Draw people from outside the community to inside the community. And sooner or later many of them are going to start looking for an F# that runs on Linux/Unix. Even if I'm wrong, even if F# is a net loss for Ocaml, I still can't help viewing F# as a good thing over all. Anything which helps programmers write code that doesn't *SUCK* is an advantage to us all- and every programmer coding in F# is a programmer not coding in C#, VB, or, God help us, C++. Making code proven free of large classes of bugs, and many other bugs rare indeed is a definate good. And bluntly, most software- free software as well as proprietary, sucks large rocks through very small pipettes. Just my two cents. Brian