[Hackage] #262: Check for required C libraries during configure

[Hackage]

#262: Check for required C libraries during configure
----------------------------+-----------------------------------------------
  Reporter:  guest          |        Owner:         
      Type:  enhancement    |       Status:  new    
  Priority:  normal         |    Milestone:         
 Component:  Cabal library  |      Version:  1.2.3.0
  Severity:  normal         |     Keywords:         
Difficulty:  normal         |   Ghcversion:  6.8.2  
  Platform:                 |  
----------------------------+-----------------------------------------------
 Cabal should check for required C libraries and other non-Haskell
 dependencies at the configure stage,
 rather than just waiting for the linker to fail with an obscure error
 message during the build stage.

 Error messages should be helpful for the typical Cabal user, who should
 not be assumed
 to know anything about C libraries or linking.

 That is not so simple. For example:

 The haddock package current requires the C libraries for readline, due to
 its dependency
 on the GHC API. If that library is missing, the user should have some way
 of figuring out how
 do the right thing on the given platform - for most Linux distros, install
 the readline-dev
 package (as opposed to just readline), for Mac OS X download the
 GNUreadline framework
 from the GHC website and drag it into the appropriate Frameworks folder
 depending on whether
 this is Tiger and below or Leopard and above, etc.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/hackage/ticket/262>
Hackage <http://haskell.org/cabal/>
Hackage: Cabal and related projects