[MLton] A few changes proposals for MLton

[Matthew Fluet]

On Thu, 13 Nov 2008, Nicolas Bertolotti wrote:
> *   03-windows-versions.patch
>    *   This patch extends the setSysname() function that is used in
>      order to generate the "uname" string on MinGW. It makes it possible
>      to detect whether we are running Windows XP x64, Vista, Vista 64,
>      2003 or 2008.
>
>
> *   04-windows-paths.patch
>    *   This patch is highly related to the request Dan DuVarney has
>      submitted today about OS.Path. It provides support for UNC paths
>      (\\foo\bar\...) and handles paths like "\foo" as absolute paths
>      without a volume specification.
>
>
> *   05-windows-exit.patch
>    *   This patch adds support for Posix.Process.exit() on MinGW. I
>      guess it has been deactivated on purpose but I don't know why and I
>      have not experienced any issue with it.

I have little to nothing to say with regards to Windows; it seems as 
though there is a chance to make some global decisions regarding OS.Path 
and Windows on the other thread.  Please weigh in on the discussion, as it 
is clear that you have some practical experiences that motivate changes.

I might be wary of extending the standard to include UNC paths, but it 
does seem as though one can reasonably take UNC paths to denote paths with 
volumes of the form "\\\\Server\\SharedFolder" (SML-string syntax).  It 
does, however, appear as though your patch allows either of the Windows 
separators in UNC volume strings.  I don't know if Windows interprets 
"//Server/SharedFolder/foo" as a UNC path.