[GHC] #8244: Removing the Cabal dependency

[GHC]

#8244: Removing the Cabal dependency
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              Reporter:  nh2         |            Owner:  duncan
                  Type:  bug         |           Status:  new
              Priority:  normal      |        Milestone:
             Component:  Compiler    |          Version:  7.6.3
            Resolution:              |         Keywords:
      Operating System:              |     Architecture:  Unknown/Multiple
  Unknown/Multiple                   |       Difficulty:  Unknown
       Type of failure:              |       Blocked By:
  None/Unknown                       |  Related Tickets:
             Test Case:              |
              Blocking:              |
Differential Revisions:  D172        |
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Comment (by ezyang):

 duncan: I also realized I had another major design question about the new
 binary package format. In your design doc, you state that the reason we
 need to store Cabal's information in the binary package database is
 because ghc-pkg needs to be able to regurgitate the information later.
 However, isn't the textual files in the database intended to be the
 "primary" representation, in which case can't ghc-pkg just hit the actual
 filesystem rather than using the binary package database?

 Normally, I'd be indifferent, but if we can reduce the size of the binary
 package database that will improve GHC startup times. And it's not like we
 need to make sure ghc-pkg's 'describe' functionality is blazingly fast...

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Ticket URL: <http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/8244#comment:26>
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