[MLton] Re: Bug#220046: mlton: Build-Depends on itself

[Roland Stigge]

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Hi Stephen and Aaron,

On Tue, 2003-11-11 at 18:38, Stephen Weeks wrote:
> * In order to build MLton, we need some SML compiler anyways.  Since I
>   believe SML/NJ must build-depend on itself, it doesn't make the
>   Debian world significantly less incestuous to remove MLton's build
>   dependency on itself and replace it with a dependency on another
>   incestuous compiler.

Remember that I proposed the change just for the case that SML/NJ
appears to be able to build from source. (This was based on the bug
conversation with Aaron which I interpreted that way.)

> * A version of MLton compiled by SML/NJ runs *much* more slowly than
>   one compiled by MLton.  So slow that I haven't done a full bootstrap
>   in years, IIRC.  We're talking more than a factor of 5 in time here.
>   I.E. over an hour instead of 5-10 minutes.  This hurts my
>   development process.

You can organize your development process to always build MLton with
MLton in debug mode, and for Debian uploads enable the SML/NJ option.

> * There are many portability issues in maintaining MLton to run under
>   both SML/NJ and MLton.  So, while we do use an SML/NJ-compiled MLton
>   for small tests, I am not at all as confident in the stability of an
>   SML/NJ-compiled MLton as I am a self-compiled MLton.

Consider building MLton with SML/NJ and afterwards again with itself.

> All in all, it seems like a lot of practical loss for a very
> theoretical gain.

I think it's quite practical. We should use every opportunity to make
Debian build from source (without presuming the package to be built to
already exist).

Thanks for considering.

bye,
  Roland

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