Re: [open-cobol-list] inconsistence of the delivery package "open cobol<>gnu cobol" .

[Brian Tiffin]

On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 10:00:43 -0500, Gilles Crebassa  
<address@hidden> wrote:

> Hi,
>
>
> We try to pull the last version of OpenCobol for Testing purpose with my
> cobol code but I'm faced to difficult issue.
>
> On the site http://www.opencobol.org, I see a version OpenCOBOL 2.0
> dev2012<http://www.opencobol.org/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?cid=1&lid=8>
> .
>
> In the same time, you inform that you migrate to sourceforge with GNU  
> Cobol
> 1.1
>
> The version OpenCobol provided on sourceforge is :
> open-cobol-2.0-feb2012.tar.gz<http://sourceforge.net/projects/open-cobol/files/open-cobol/2.0/open-cobol-2.0-feb2012.tar.gz/download>
> 2013-09-19
> The version of GNU Cobol on sourceforge is :
> gnu-cobol-1.1.tar.gz<http://sourceforge.net/projects/open-cobol/files/gnu-cobol/1.1/gnu-cobol-1.1.tar.gz/download>
> 2014-01-20
>
> In the part GNU Cobol, the stream 2.0 is empty.
>
>
> in the CVS of sourceforge, I see gnu-cobol-1.x and gnu-cobol-2.0
>
> Can you explain what is the "real" last version ?

Sorry for the confusion Gilles, my bad, slowly being merged back to a  
single release point.

Firstly, opencobol.org is in Mothball.  I updated the links, recently, in  
an attempt to provide proper download choices, but all the new work and  
discussions occur on SourceForge at  
http://sourceforge.net/projects/open-cobol/

As mentioned by the other responses, the leading edge release is 2.1 by  
Ron Norman with Report Writer.

Stable release is OpenCOBOL 1.1 by Roger While.

I also posted Roger's initial OpenCOBOL 2.0 dev2012 (this is a work in  
progress cut, unlikely to see any more changes due to events beyond  
anyone's control, but posted out of respect and admiration)

For safer COBOL, the 1.1 release is stable, valgrind friendly (no memory  
leaks detected, etc).

For more features, FUNCTION-ID and Report Writer, 2.1 is the latest.  Once  
Simon (and I, but sadly, most of the burden has fallen to Simon) get the  
various changes merged into trunk, there will be work on the 2.1 version.   
2.0 (Roger's initial work) and the 2.1 branch, while more feature rich are  
not quite yet valgrind friendly.  There are leaks in the compiler and also  
in some features with compiled COBOL programs.  These issues don't seem to  
be stopping anyone from writing production level code, but no one likes  
potholes, so efforts will soon turn to filling in the edge cases and  
getting back to a higher level of trust.

I use the 2.1 reportwriter branch for all my experiments now, and it works  
great, but does make valgrind complain a little.

In short.  OpenCOBOL 1.1-Feb 2009 has a 5 year track record now, and is  
likely the version you'll see in various GNU/Linux package distribution  
repositories.   GNU Cobol 2.1 is the leading edge version where all the  
new cool stuff will happen.

OpenCOBOL 1.0 is still in some repos, as it was the first stamped release  
back in 2007.

And, just to add to the party.  Sergey Kashryin has posted a C++ emitting  
version, based on 2.0, now the gnu-cobol-cpp branch.  And Joe Robbins has  
been hard at work on a fileio simplification, based on 1.1, that again,  
will likely be merged into the 2.1 tree sometime soon.

For a quick view see  
http://sourceforge.net/p/open-cobol/code/HEAD/tree/branches/

gnu-cobol-1.x will eventually become an official GNU Cobol release hosted  
on the GNU sites, probably as gnu-cobol-1.2

It will be shortly thereafter be superceded by GNU Cobol 2.1 (labeled the  
"reportwriter" branch on SourceForge).
This will be sistered with Sergey's gnu-cobol-cpp C++ emitter.

Shorter answer.

OpenCOBOL 1.1 Feb 2009 is likely the version most people have installed.
GNU Cobol 1.1 is a rebranding of OC1.1 with some patches.
GNU Cobol 2.1 reportwriter will soon be trunk    **This is the  
feature-richest version**
GNU Cobol CPP for anyone interested in a C++ version

Shortest answer:

GNU Cobol 1.1 posted to Savannah
GNU Cobol 2.1 posted to SourceForge as branches/reportwriter
or
GNU Cobol cpp posted to SourceForge as branches/gnu-cobol-cpp

I do apologize for the mishmash.  I thought releasing 2.0 early was a nice  
thing (and it was, **nice**, just not **smart**), but turns out to have  
created a splintering effect.  Like a broken mirror, all the pieces give a  
full reflection, but now the task is to rebuild and merge back to a single  
source release.

For the next few months;
OpenCOBOL 1.1 for auditor friendly COBOL for production
GNU Cobol 2.1 reportwriter for the newest funnest features, and as Simon  
says, "with a taste of Beta".

Joe could probably use more feedback on the fileiorewrite branch and  
Sergey's C++ version can't be ignored either (and it won't).

And yes, this re-merge and official release path for GNU is taking too  
long.  My bad.

Sincerely,
Brian

> http://about.me/crebassa.gilles