[ocaml-biz] target demographics

[Brandon J. Van Every]

Martin Jambon wrote:
>
> This effect for OCaml is already very clear in France. Many
> students in computer science (which is only a subset of the future
> programmers) already practiced some OCaml during their
> studies, and when
> you tell them that you develop a serious project in OCaml, they look
> at you with a big smile which says: "You are too naive, OCaml is too
> simple, it can't be used for industrial projects, but it
> reminds me of the
> time when I was young and naive too. Now I am paid for working, so it
> has to be uninteresting, boring and I must give up all my dreams".
>                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>                                 (maybe this part is specific to
>                                  the French)
>

Well, at least people in France are aware of the technology.  Some
industrial Success Stories could probably convert some of those already
aware.  For instance, here are Python Success Stories:
http://www.pythonology.com/success  This kind of effort would need to be
done at http://wiki.cocan.org/

Another demographic point to consider is that France is a unique (?)
market for OCaml.  Well, you tell me if awareness exists in other EU
countries in any great measure.  It certainly doesn't exist in the USA.
Only Usenet geeks who have followed Functional Programming or the
Shootout benchmarks know anything about it.  So, it is probably a good
idea to consider "What will work in France?  What can we do in France
that we can't yet do elsewhere?" because that's OCaml's center of
gravity.

All is not lost elsewhere though.  There's a strong academic contingent
for ML at U. Washington here in Seattle.  I'll go bug them sometime
soon.  First I need to get a few ducks in a row.

Incidentally, the Great Computer Language Shootout has been revived at:
http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/  Helping these guys out and staying
on top of OCaml's showing would definitely be to our advantage.


Cheers,                     www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every           Seattle, WA

When no one else sells courage, supply and demand take hold.