[Haskell-cafe] Confusions about the Haskell Platform (for Mac)

[Sean Leather]

Hi Gregory,

Thanks for the reply.

Gregory Collins wrote:

> Sean Leather writes:
>
> > 4. The current link for the Mac image points to
> >
> http://hackage.haskell.org/platform/2010.1.0.0/haskell-platform-2010.1.0.1-i386.dmg
> > . Note the inconsistency between the version in the directory and file
> > names.
>
> You can think of that one as the second edition of the 2010.1 beta
> version. Agree that the directories should match.


This is, of course, relatively minor. One alternative is to change the
directory name to exclude the lowest version(s), e.g
2010.1/haskell-platform-2010.1.0.1-i386.dmg, so that when new intermediate
versions are uploaded, the directory name still makes sense and doesn't need
to change.

Too bad the installer
> still doesn't work -- I'm working on it everyone, but the Mac installer
> system is incredibly crufty and broken, and Snow Leopard broke a lot of
> stuff for me.
>

Is it possible to build the installer on a Leopard system/virtual machine
such that it will install on a Snow Leopard system?

> 5. The directions on http://hackage.haskell.org/platform/mac.html say:
> >
> >   After downloading:
> >     * Open the .dmg file
> >     * Follow the install instructions
> >
> >   I see no "install instructions" in the .dmg file. I only see the
> following files:
> >     * GHC-6.12.1-i386.pkg
> >     * Haskell Platform 2010.1.0.1.pkg
> >     * Uninstall GHC
>
> When you mount the .dmg file a Finder window should pop up with the
> install instructions in a background image. Let me guess: this isn't
> working in Leopard? I should put a readme in there.
>

Yes, I'm using Leopard. A README file should do the trick.

> 7. Why can't I have a single .pkg file?
>
> Short answer: I can't figure out how, and not for lack of trying,
> either. What I do is take the binary installer that the GHC guys build
> as a starting point. Despite many hours of reverse-engineering I cannot
> for the life of me figure out how to extract the GHC installer package
> from the binary "metapackage".
>

I'm completely ignorant of how the installer packages work, but is it
possible to have one package refer to another? Thus, one installer could
initiate another. Then, at least there is only one click needed for the
whole thing.

My experience has been that if you unxar the metapackage and try to copy
> the included package file into a new metapackage, the mac installer
> tools barf. Long-term, I'm planning on just building GHC from source so
> I can package a one-click installer, but I don't have infinite time for
> this project and doing psychic battle with the evil warlocks who cooked
> up the Mac installer is a challenge.
>

I see you have the source at
http://github.com/gregorycollins/haskell-platform-osx-installer . I can try
to look at it at some point.

If anyone has expertise in this area and a willingness to help, please
> contact me off-list.
>
>
> > Why do I have an "Uninstall GHC" and not an "Uninstall Haskell
> > Platform"?
>
> The platform installer is supposed to erase previous platform editions
> before it installs itself.
>

That's good. Is it possible to include an uninstaller as well?

Regards,
Sean
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