[cwn] Attn: Development Editor, Latest Caml Weekly News

Alan Schmitt alan.schmitt at polytechnique.org
Tue Jan 8 07:21:37 PST 2008 

Hello,

Here is the latest Caml Weekly News, for the week of January 01 to 08,  
2008.

1) Camlp5 release 5.07
2) OCaml 3.10.1 release candidate 2
3) patch for top level backtraces
4) ExtLib 1.5.1 released
5) An ocaml livecd

========================================================================
1) Camlp5 release 5.07
Archive: <http://groups.google.com/group/fa.caml/browse_frm/thread/b1f9d468c7953a62#f80db29ae370019c 
 >
------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Daniel de Rauglaudre announced:

New release of Camlp5 : 5.07

Changes:
  - Added function [Grammar.Entry.parse_all] returning the list of all
    solutions when using the parsing algorithm [Backtracking].
  - Added "pprintf" statement to use the Camlp5 pretty print system more
    easily and shortly. A chapter of the documentation describes it.

Sources and documentation available at:
    <http://pauillac.inria.fr/~ddr/camlp5/>
			
========================================================================
2) OCaml 3.10.1 release candidate 2
Archive: <http://groups.google.com/group/fa.caml/browse_frm/thread/89a1b8929048e7d8#1834fd8c2f9e462e 
 >
------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Damien, for the OCaml team, announced:

I have the pleasure of announcing the second release candidate
of OCaml 3.10.1.

There are only two changes from RC1:

1. The type-checking of recursive modules was too restrictive
     in RC1 (and not restrictive enough in 3.10.0).  (PR#4470)
2. There was a problem with the native port on HPPA. (PR#4339)

As usual, this is a source-only version released for testing
by power users and package managers.

If you are using recursive modules, or if you are running OCaml
on HPPA machines, please download and test this version.  If
you haven't tested RC1 yet, please test RC2 instead.

As usual, you should drop me <damien.doligez at inria.fr> a mail
after testing, and tell me about any problem you had.  Don't forget
to tell me also if all goes well.
This release is available, as usual, at
<ftp://ftp.inria.fr/INRIA/cristal/ocaml/ocaml-3.10/ocaml-3.10.1+rc2.tar.bz2 
 >
<ftp://ftp.inria.fr/INRIA/cristal/ocaml/ocaml-3.10/ocaml-3.10.1+rc2.tar.gz 
 >
			
========================================================================
3) patch for top level backtraces
Archive: <http://groups.google.com/group/fa.caml/browse_frm/thread/240be27661ff5c05#3aca59d1ea232430 
 >
------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Jake Donham announced:

Here is another backtrace patch that gives backtraces in the top level  
and
for dynamically-loaded code.

   <http://skydeck.com/blog/programming/more-stack-traces-in-ocaml/>
			
========================================================================
4) ExtLib 1.5.1 released
Archive: <http://groups.google.com/group/fa.caml/browse_frm/thread/0d65e8674d5a4460#533d6bb7d3e4e9ee 
 >
------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Janne Hellsten announced:

The OCaml ExtLib developers are proud to announce the release of  
ExtLib 1.5.1.

The release should be considered a minor bug fix release. Along with
the new version, we also announce that the ExtLib project has moved to
a new home at <http://code.google.com/p/ocaml-extlib/>.

The release tarball can be downloaded from:
<http://code.google.com/p/ocaml-extlib/downloads/list>

GODI packages have already been upgraded to the latest version. Debian
and Fedora package upgrades are expected to happen soon.

See the project home page for more information.
			
========================================================================
5) An ocaml livecd
Archive: <http://groups.google.com/group/fa.caml/browse_frm/thread/75e8b2ac37b33363#5c5d5e7430774535 
 >
------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Adrien Nader said:

Some time ago there was a discussion about the usefulness of an ocaml  
livecd.
There is already Demolinux or Juppix but they both contain a lot of
data (.iso weigh about 700MB) and Demolinux is really aging.

So here is a test version for a new one.
The goal of the livecd is not to have java, eclipse or apache, it is
to provide a comfortable environment for ocaml but also general usage
while consuming few resources. Hopefully it is easy to plug-in modules
in the root filesystem whenever one wants (see
<http://slax.hosting4p.com/modules.php> ). This modular approach is
important as it reduces space usage (both on the cd and in memory)
while keeping all the functionnalities.

The base is slackware-current with linux-live scripts (1) and slax's
kernel (2) as a mysterious problem prevents me from using my owns.
The build process is pretty easy and reproductible by anybody within
two hours. Feel free to ask if you want the small scripts I've written
: one creates an iso from a subset of slackware-current, the other one
removes some files and move some others in order to create modules for
C development [headers and gcc data] and documentation.

(1) : <http://www.linux-live.org>
(2) : taken from slax6rc7 iso along with modules,
<http://merlin.fit.vutbr.cz/mirrors/slax/SLAX-6.x/rc7/>

The result is a 147MB iso file with a graphical environment which can
run on computers with 128MB of RAM. Right now this livecd features
xfce, ocaml-3.10.1-rc1, ledit, ocamlfind, gvim (vi is elvis though),
mousepad, gmplayer, pcmanfm (file-manager), emelfm (same), Thunar
(same). It also features fftw2 which I wanted for myself and I'll be
happy to include any other module one could want (I've forgotten
lablgtk2 for example).

Basic usage/advice is :
- upon boot, use <TAB> to edit the command-line and use vga=0x315 for
800x600 console display, vga=0x317 for 1024x768 and vga=0x31A for
1280x1024.
- log in as root (the filesystem is read-only), there is currently no  
password.
- use the startx command for the gui (vesa 1024x768 by default, works
for geforce go 7600, geforce 7600gt, radeon x300) and if you have a
weird terminal, quit xfce, run xorgsetup and use a higher color depth.
You may run xorgsetup anytime display is problematic in fact.
- ocaml with ledit and unix.cma is the yellow helmet on the left

There are already todo and fixme lists:
fixme, most being immediate to fix:
  * higher  default resolution for boot
  * debug off for pcmanfm (its inotify debug is a real flood)
  * /etc/group, I'm not sure of the proper syntax
  * include the development and documentation modules (ocaml
documentation is not concerned, it is always there)
  * lablgtk
  * wput
  * network which is available but not activated by default.

todo:
  * emacs with tuareg is absent but only because I don't personnaly use
and can't make it properly (I've already found the friend I'm going to
work on this ;) )
  * ndiswrapper with stripped driverpacks (
<http://driverpacks.net/DriverPacks/DriverPack.php?pag=l> ) to support
some wifi cards (as my bcm43xx for instance)
  * drocaml but I would like to make it lighter otherwise it will have
troubles running
  * cameleon2 which surprinsingly doesn't compile on my computer
  * improved bootscreen (but don't be afraid, there'll be no ugly  
gfx ;) )
  * copy2ram (copy data from cd or usb key to ram to improve  
performance)

The iso file can be downloaded at
<http://ocaml.yaxm.org/files/llama/llama.iso> and yes I really had no
idea for the name. ;p
Any feedback is highly appreciated.

PS: Am I allowed to redistribute the oreilly book in pdf format ?
What about the ocaml pdf by inria ?
			
========================================================================
Using folding to read the cwn in vim 6+
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If you know of a better way, please let me know.

========================================================================
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------------------------------------------------------------------------

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========================================================================

-- 
Alan Schmitt <http://alan.petitepomme.net/>

The hacker: someone who figured things out and made something cool  
happen.
  .O.
  ..O
  OOO


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