Hello,

Also, I'd love to get any feedback about whether the beta PPAs in my
> ppa-testing repository work well for you.


Following the install instructions from
http://opam.ocamlpro.com/doc/Quick_Install.html :

add-apt-repository ppa:avsm/ppa
apt-get update
apt-get install ocaml opam

the repo was well added, but I had the error that the 'opam' package was
not found. I'm running Ubuntu Precise on a 64-bit machine. From what I see
here:
https://launchpad.net/~avsm/+archive/ppa/+packages
it seems that the opam package is only available for Raring... But on the
"testing" repository, I confirm that opam is available, even for Precise -
though I didn't install it that way.

From my side, I downloaded the development branch using Git, and I reset
the branch back to the tag '1.0.0'. Compiled and works.

However, I had to cheat in order to get the latest compiler in service at
any time. The reason is explained here:
http://superuser.com/questions/385766/profile-not-running-when-i-start-a-bash-terminal
... given the fact that I launch terminals to compile. I did the following
trick :
1) add to both .profile and .bashrc, the line ". ~/.opaminit";
2) in the new file .opaminit, write the single line "eval `opam config
env`".

Best regards,
Bertrand Desmons

 I'm still learning my way
> around the (very powerful) system Canonical have, and I think this new
> repository should work with Ubuntu Precise, Quantal and Raring on both
> x86_64 and i386.  I'm still working my way through building ARM packages
> for the rPi and Dreamplugs, since that's a more manual process.
>
> cheers,
> Anil