Here is some updates on the LLVM world into Debian.
LLVM and CLANG getting better and better after each release. After some lag, it is now time to have all these packages up-to-date into the archive. Here is an update of their status in Debian:

• LLVM
  LLVM 2.8 and 2.9 are now available into the archive.
  For version 2.8, Matthias Klose deserves most of the credit.
  Version 2.9 is available in experimental. They both build pretty well on most of the architectures besides kfreebsd. It is on my TODO list.
• Clang. A C/C++ compiler.
  clang 2.8 and 2.9 are respectively available in unstable and experimental.
  These versions cover most of C/C++ specifications and more and more big software (Qt, Boost, Scilab, etc) succeed to be built with it. Like LLVM, it is available under most of the Debian architectures (but I haven't tested the quality of the ASM generated). clang can be used just like gcc. With most of software, calling configure/make with CC="clang" or CXX="clang" should be enought.
• * Dragonegg
  Dragonegg is a gcc plugin (llvm-gcc-4.5) which allows gcc to use optimizer and code generators of LLVM.
  It is now straightforward to use:
  
llvm-gcc -o foo foo.c
I have lighten the "contact" between the gcc version used to build the extension and the version used to run it.
  It required the exact same version of gcc (even if the sources say it is probably a too strong requirement). Now, a warning like this one is displayed:
  
Potential incompatible plugin version. GCC: 4.5.3. Expected: 4.5.2
Defines 'dragonegg_disable_version_check' as env variable to remove this warning
Please note that unexpected errors might occur.
If there is a better way to tackle this issue, I will be happy to hear it.
• llvm-defaults
  Last but not least, I uploaded llvm-defaults, a work of Arthur Loiret. This package allows a similar behavior to gcc-defaults. The installation of llvm will provide the default version of llvm.

Deprecated stuffs:

• llvm
  The llvm package has been removed. Actually, it was just the version 2.6 of llvm (see bug #625729). llvm (from llvm-defaults) is now providing the favorite version of llvm.
• llvm-gcc-4.2
  Upstream stopped the development of this plugin.
  It has been removed from the archive (see bug #626007) and dragonegg is taking the relay.
• llvm-snapshot
  llvm-snapshot (see bug #626083) followed the same direction as llvm-gcc-4.2
• llvm-2.7
  llvm-2.7 is still in the archive (see bug #626081) because of some reverse dependencies...

I hope some people from the OCaml community will enjoy this changelog, extracted from llvm 2.6-7, which has just been uploaded:

  [ Arthur Loiret ]
   
  [...]
  [ Sylvain Le Gall ]
  * Build a libllvm-ocaml-dev package, which contains the OCaml binding:
    Closes: #568556.
    - debian/debhelper.in/libllvm-ocaml-dev. dirs,doc-base,install,META : Add.
    - debian/control.in/source: Build-Depends on ocaml-nox (>= 3.11.2),
      ocaml-best-compilers   ocaml-nox, dh-ocaml (>= 0.9.1).
    - debian/packages.d/llvm.mk:
      + (llvm_packages): Add libllvm-ocaml-dev.
      + (libllvm-ocaml-dev_extra_binary): Define, install META file.
    - debian/rules.d/binary.mk: Add dh_installdirs and dh_ocaml.
    - debian/rules.d/vars.mk:
      + include /usr/share/ocaml/ocamlvars.mk.
      + Configure with --with-ocaml-libdir=$(OCAML_STDLIB_DIR)/llvm.
  * debian/rules.d/build.mk: Fix symlinks pointing to the $DESTDIR.

In other words: LLVM is now built with its OCaml bindings and a META file for findlib. It will take some days before reaching every architectures, but hopefully it will be in Squeeze (next Debian stable release). Thanks to Arthur Loiret for the quick upload.

and the newbies are ... A long time ago, in a couple of blog posts far far away, we have introduced the DebConf Newbies initiative. I'm hereby happy to announce the actual DebConf newbies and I'm looking forward to meet them at the forthcoming DebConf10 in New York City:

• Jonathan Wiltshire
• Jon Bernard
• Arnaud Fontaine
• Ben Armstrong
• Arthur Loiret
• Serafeim Zanikolas
• Andreas B. Mundt

Now, folks, please be kind with them, they (still) don't know how crazy we can be(come) during DebConf. Above all: do not harm them (too much) at Mao. In exchange, they have already promised that they will fix all RC bugs that will still be open at the beginning of DebConf10 (or maybe I've just read that in their minds, I don't quite remember ...). Does that mean that DebConf10 travel sponsoring is completely OK as of now? No, not really. This initiative was specifically targeting DebConf newbies, but several DebConf "regulars" are planning to attend too. For some of them the amazing DebConf sponsoring team has already found enough resources to secure their travel sponsorship, for quite some others it is not the case yet. This is a pity, because we know from the past that having more Debian folks at DebConf means more hacking, a better distribution, and a better community, ultimately it means a better Debian. Some of the readers of this blog post will be in the condition to improve the situation: it is as simple as donating to Debian or, better, becoming a DebConf10 sponsor by simply mailing the sponsoring team.

I hope some people from the OCaml community will enjoy this changelog, extracted from llvm 2.6-7, which has just been uploaded:

  [ Arthur Loiret ]
   
  [...]
  [ Sylvain Le Gall ]
  * Build a libllvm-ocaml-dev package, which contains the OCaml binding:
    Closes: #568556.
    - debian/debhelper.in/libllvm-ocaml-dev. dirs,doc-base,install,META : Add.
    - debian/control.in/source: Build-Depends on ocaml-nox (>= 3.11.2),
      ocaml-best-compilers   ocaml-nox, dh-ocaml (>= 0.9.1).
    - debian/packages.d/llvm.mk:
      + (llvm_packages): Add libllvm-ocaml-dev.
      + (libllvm-ocaml-dev_extra_binary): Define, install META file.
    - debian/rules.d/binary.mk: Add dh_installdirs and dh_ocaml.
    - debian/rules.d/vars.mk:
      + include /usr/share/ocaml/ocamlvars.mk.
      + Configure with --with-ocaml-libdir=$(OCAML_STDLIB_DIR)/llvm.
  * debian/rules.d/build.mk: Fix symlinks pointing to the $DESTDIR.

In other words: LLVM is now built with its OCaml bindings and a META file for findlib. It will take some days before reaching every architectures, but hopefully it will be in Squeeze (next Debian stable release). Thanks to Arthur Loiret for the quick upload.

Since there aren't only serious grave and critical bugs we have to fix for the release, the RM Team spontaneously decided to make a front attack to the g++-4.3 FTBFSes. All in all we did probably more than 110 to 120 NMU to fix g++-4.3 FTBFS bugs. Our champion is definitely Marc Brockschmidt who uploaded 50 packages. I NMUed 22, and also did one QA upload. Add to that 5 sponsored NMUs for Cyril Brulebois, and one for Arthur Loiret who happens to be my NM, and fixed one of those bugs for his T&S. There are still twice as many to fix, those are really easy bugs to deal with, just give it a try ! I'd like to thank Cyril Brulebois for his awesome work on the g++-4.3 release goal. A shame that he's still elmo-ed, as he wrote more than 150 patches, and could have uploaded them himself if not still waiting for his account. Shame on us.

gdc has finally entered Debian repositories (thanks Arthur Loiret, Matthias Klose, thanks GCC folks!). It’s time to start putting the rest of Kenta Cho’s games into Debian. Two of them, A7Xpg and Gunroar, are already in the NEW queue, some others are on the way. Kenta Cho is most famous for his shmups or shoot ‘em ups, mostly featuring abstract reinterpretations of retro classics with each game having a specific unique feature and using randomly generated levels. rRootage and Noiz2sa are already in the archive, since they were coded in C++. Thanks to Javier Candeira, who introduced me to Kenta Cho’s world.