Stream: Coq Platform devs & users

Topic: Document the OCaml compiler+options

view this post on Zulip Karl Palmskog (May 01 2022 at 19:07):

As noted in the discussion here, there is no explicit documentation about what OCaml compiler version and options the Platform is using. Since the Platform is in some sense a "recommended solution" to compiling and working with Coq, I think it would be good to state this as part of Platform README for each release / package pick

view this post on Zulip Théo Zimmermann (May 02 2022 at 08:00):

It's actually explicitly documented. See e.g., here. But perhaps you mean that this information should be put forward more clearly?

view this post on Zulip Karl Palmskog (May 02 2022 at 11:04):

so people are supposed to scan through the list of 40+ packages, and know by heart what "ocaml-option-flambda.1 (1) Set OCaml to be compiled with flambda activated" means? I don't think that's reasonable

view this post on Zulip Paolo Giarrusso (May 02 2022 at 20:21):

I assume part of the motivation is https://coq.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/237977-Coq-users/topic/problem.20with.20sudo.20make.20install so we also have evidence of at least one mislead user

view this post on Zulip Karl Palmskog (May 02 2022 at 21:11):

anyway, I realized now my reply sounded unnecessarily harsh, bottom line is that I will try to make a documentation PR when I get a moment to spare, I just think it's a good thing if we can get some OCaml recommendation out there

view this post on Zulip Karl Palmskog (May 02 2022 at 21:13):

(as plugin maintainer OCaml version management is tough)

view this post on Zulip Michael Soegtrop (May 12 2022 at 08:03):

It is a bit tricky to document it at high level and correctly, because it depends on the Coq version (not all picks use the same version of OCaml). But one for sure could put it in the header of the auto generated readme files.

view this post on Zulip Théo Zimmermann (May 12 2022 at 08:20):

Yes, I think this would be sufficient.

view this post on Zulip Michael Soegtrop (May 12 2022 at 08:39):

Btw.: if one uses the scripts - which I guess users caring about the OCaml version do - then opam switch is the way to check the OCaml version. The installers are not intended for people who need to care about the OCaml version.

Last updated: Jun 03 2023 at 05:01 UTC