How to get F# working with Mono?

Question

I can't seem to find a compiler/plugin for mono. Does one exist?

Answer 1

For reference, there are now Linux (.deb and .rpm) packages and a Mac OS X installer available at http://fsxplat.codeplex.com/ which will save you the work of having to manually copy around files and make your own launcher scripts.

Answer 2

You can download the F# zip file from Microsoft and then run (for example) "mono fsi.exe".

Answer 3

If you are on Ubuntu, follow the following three steps.

1. Download and install ".deb" package from here.

2. Run the following commands.

   sudo apt-add-repository ppa:directhex/ppa 
   sudo apt-get update 
   sudo apt-get install monodevelop
   

3. Start MonoDevelop. go to add-in manager, Gallery > Language bindings > F#, install.

Answer 4

1. Go here and download fsharp.zip
2. Unzip it and open the created folder
3. Open the terminal and run ./install-mono.sh as root (On some systems, it is necessary to convert the newline characters in that script from CRLF to LF)

This will give you the basic functionality which means you will be able to run "mono fsi.exe" and compiled F# apps as "mono myApp.exe".

Usefull tips:

1. It makes sense to create scripts for the compiler and F# interactive. i.e.:

   /usr/local/bin/fsc

   #!/bin/sh exec /usr/bin/mono /usr/local/src/FSharp-1.9.9.9/bin/fsc.exe $@

   /usr/local/bin/fsi

   #!/bin/sh exec /usr/bin/mono /usr/local/src/FSharp-1.9.9.9/bin/fsi.exe $@

2. F# interactive (fsi.exe) is trying to reference System.Windows.Forms by default so in order to run it WinForms support in Mono will be required

3. fsi.exe works better in Xterm than in Gnome Terminal.

Answer 5

Look also here for detailled installation instructions including F# PowerPack and MySQL connector: http://2sharp4u.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/installing-f-2-0-on-monolinux

Answer 6

Joe Pamer, one of the F# compiler authors, helped me get this working back in July, I wrote up the steps here: http://saladwithsteve.com/2010/07/building-fsharp-on-the-mac.html