First I don’t think it’s only a matter of compiler-dev. I’m talking about enhancing community engagement, this includes libraries, ecosystem etc. For me the only tool that does this well for the OCaml community is this forum. I feel like nobody will be able to be involved in the compiler before people feel engaged in the community. Note that the original comment that sparked this debate from @Gopiandcode was about participation to the ecosystem, not specifically the compiler.
Second, here’s what I see when I (sometimes) click on the OCaml server in discord
And now the same thing for Rust:
I won’t click on each and every channel in discord, and read all messages until I find something to engage with.
I will, however, go through the list of subjects in the Rust operational semantics team and figure out if I want to engage with anything.
More importantly, the discord server doesn’t feel “official”, but more “community supported”. This is not where discussions happen, it’s been acting more as a helpdesk (from what I’ve been able to see). I feel like, as @nojb said, there’s a lack of centralised and official/advertised discussion place for anything OCaml (including compiler/language development). Which does not preclude these discussions to be summarised or linked to github issues/PRs, or RFCs.
Also, I’m just discovering the github discussions after 9 years of having OCaml as my main language.
That being said, I fully agree with the fact that Rust and Lean have great resources and that makes everything much easier. Re spreading resources thin, I think that creating a Zulip would mean deprecating and eventually removing discord, and other means of discussion. I’d keep:
- github issues/PRs/RFCs
- zulip
- This discuss
That’s it.