The document summarizes a meeting of the OCaml Consortium in November 2012. It discusses plans to create an OCaml Platform that combines the core compiler with libraries, tools, and documentation. This will include launching ocaml.org with sites for documentation, packages, mailing lists, and events. It also describes the ongoing work on OPAM and hosting its package repository, along with expanding support for different operating systems.

1. OCaml Labs
& ocaml.org
Anil Madhavapeddy
OCaml Consortium Meeting
November 2012
Monday, 26 November 12

2. Anil Madhavapeddy (PI): Xen, Mirage, OpenBSD
Alan Mycroft (PI): head of Programming Language group
Ian Leslie (PI): embedded systems, ex-head of Computer Lab
Jon Crowcroft: head of Systems Research Group
Amir Chaudhry: program manager, neuroscience PhD
Leo White: postdoc, type system and tools (GADTs, open types)
Raphael Proust: PhD student, linear type systems
Balraj Singh: PhD student, Mirage developer, networking expert
Julian Chesterfield: storage architect, OnApp
Dave Scott: chief architect of Xen, Citrix
Mark Shinwell: Jane Street
Yaron Minsky: head of technology, Jane Street
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/projects/ocamllabs/people.html
Monday, 26 November 12

3. Varied Funding Sources:
Industrial partners:
Jane Street (main platform grant)
Citrix (equipment and staff)
UK Research Councils:
RCUK Horizon Digital Economy program
European Union:
FP7 STREP, Trilogy 2
DARPA:
Mission Critical Resilient Clouds (MRC2)
(with SRI International)
Monday, 26 November 12

4. What we won’t do
We don’t want to build another empire
We don’t want to fragment the community
We don’t want to lose the existing great
aspects of OCaml
Monday, 26 November 12

5. What we will do
Primary Goal: create an OCaml Platform
that combines the core compiler with an
effective set of libraries, tools and docs.
• Initially work with key stakeholders (OCaml
Consortium) and eventually the community.
• Currently collaborating heavily with OCamlPro
on a lot of this.
• Kick off ocaml.org infrastructure.
Monday, 26 November 12

6. What is ocaml.org?
www. ocaml.org -- public facing site
mirror. ocaml.org -- mirror of repos
opam. ocaml.org -- package manager
docs. ocaml.org -- documentation
lists. ocaml.org -- mailing lists
events. ocaml.org -- events listing
Monday, 26 November 12

7. www.ocaml.org
verson 1 is already live: great effort by
Ashish Agarwal and Christophe Troestler!
version 2:
• Profession design input (already underway)
• Blog aggregation (planet_ocaml, reddit, etc)
Community edits currently via pull requests
on Github (more on this later)
Monday, 26 November 12

8. opam.ocaml.org
80%+ approval rating and still pre-release
(more popular than Obama!!!)
• v0.9 public beta in December
• v1.0 stable version in February
• v1.1 in Summer 2013
Blog to highlight a
Package of the Month
Monday, 26 November 12

9. opam.ocaml.org
Tool: cross-compilation, Windows, build system
integration, more regression tests, binary packages,
Platform integration
Meta-data: regression tests (windows etc),
checking consistency of external libraries.
Website: better design, statistics, dynamic
content (comments etc), blog/wiki, display meta-data
for authors and maintainers
Monday, 26 November 12

10. opam.ocaml.org
Available operating systems:
• Linux (x86_32, x86_64, armv6, armv7, ppc64)
• FreeBSD (x86_32, x86_64)
• OpenBSD (x86_32, x86_64, sparc64, ppc32)
• MacOS X (10.8 x86_64)
• Windows (TBD)
Raspberry Pi build farm!
Nice feature: ocaml.org will build and test your
packages for you (via a Xen build farm hosted by
Citrix)
Monday, 26 November 12

11. mirror.ocaml.org
Read-only mirror of OCaml
(mirror of github.com/ocaml)
OPAM has shown that OCaml Github
projects can succeed:
• 350+ issues closed
• 40+ 3rd-party branches
Can also mirror 3rd party packages
Monday, 26 November 12

12. docs.ocaml.org
Creative Commons O’Reilly Book
• interactive website
with user comments
• interactive top-level
• translations
• private feedback RSN!
Monday, 26 November 12

13. docs.ocaml.org
Platform documentation
• unified ocamldoc (Leo White)
• IDE integration (medium term)
• interactive top-level (js_of_ocaml)
• tutorials
Monday, 26 November 12

14. lists.ocaml.org
Only two mailing lists at start:
• infrastructure@...
• platform@...
Can also hosts lists for
Platform-related projects
Planning migration from OCamlForge with
Sylvain’s help.
Monday, 26 November 12

15. What is the Platform?
Key components:
OPAM package management
Unified OCamlDoc++ online
Namespaces for stdlib management
Regression testing and long-term support
establishes a quality bar for inclusion.
Monday, 26 November 12

16. Who is Platform for?
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Coq BioCaml Xen Lwt Ocsigen
Compcert Mirage Eliom
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OPA
Pffff CIL Acunu Unison
Why CCured Arakoon CDuce
Liquidsoap
Monday, 26 November 12

17. maintain 6 monthly
releases reliability
upstream audit
evaluate community fault
ARM tolerance
OCamlPro JS MIPS
experiment mobile 32/64 disaggregated
Xen
Typerex nigori CHERI
multicore LLVM OPAM database perscon illuminate
mirage
regions inlining web logging signposts rPi
linearity open types book actor mirage embedded Xen
Runtime Compiler Tools Libraries Horizon C-Aware Citrix
Toolchain Platform Systems
Monday, 26 November 12

18. events.ocaml.org
OCaml 2013
chaired by Michel Mauny
Place to publicise events
(meet-ups, user-groups etc)
Hackathons
(e.g NYC, Cambridge, Paris, ICFP)
Events management software?
Monday, 26 November 12

19. How we communicate
Regular status updates every 2 weeks
• Open for people to join via videoconf ?
• Results/notes/slides online after meeting
Mantis for core OCaml discussions.
The 2 mailing lists on ocaml.org
Monthly platform updates emailed publicly.
Monday, 26 November 12

20. Get Involved
• Direct support:
Commercial contracts with OCamlPro
will help this effort hugely.
OCaml Labs can accept charitable gifts
that are tax efficient also.
• Needs gathering:
Respond, criticize, test the Platform
betas as they emerge.
Monday, 26 November 12

21. Summary
By the next Consortium meeting,
we aim to:
• Have a first released Platform
• Move to ocaml.org
• Have a hosted OPAM package
system
• Host at least one hackathon
somewhere
Monday, 26 November 12

22. Feedback?
Monday, 26 November 12