Policy, location of .cma files in binary packages, and dynlink...

[Stéphane Glondu <steph@glondu.net>]

Hi,

If I understand the Debian OCaml Packaging Policy correctly, .cma files
should be in libxxx-ocaml-dev binary packages. Has this choice been
taken with dynamic loading in mind?

Ocsigen may, and does with its default configuration and in the most
useful cases, dynamically load nums.cma, sqlite3.cma, and cryptokit.cma,
the last two being in *-dev packages. However, I think this is
confusing: is it ok for an executable to depend on *-dev packages at
runtime?

When OCaml with native dynamic loading is realeased, where so-called
"plugins" (.cmxs, I am not talking about .cmx files!) should be put?
libxxx-ocaml or libxxx-ocaml-dev? The second choice would be
meaningless, since .cmxs are only meant to be dynamically loaded. And
the first choice would be inconsistent with the current choice for .cma
files.

Therefore, I think .cma files should be put in libxxx-ocaml binary
packages instead, or at least this possibility should be allowed and
explicitly mentioned in the policy.

Cheers,

-- 
Stéphane Glondu