Reinstallable lib:ghc (was: [core libraries] Upgradeable base (smallest step forward))

[Joachim Breitner]

Hi,

Am Montag, den 24.07.2017, 12:24 +0200 schrieb Herbert Valerio Riedel:
> Also, I'd like to know if you can think of reasons why or situations
> when the reinstalled lib:ghc wouldn't work; or other reasons why this
> is a bad idea.

I’d am mostly worried about ABI compatibility. Will the .hi files
written by the compiler be readable by some tool that was built with an
upgraded ghc? Which dependencies can affect the binary format (if any)?

Or will the rebuilt ghc get its own, randomly generated “GHC version”
(similar to a development build where the build date is part of the GHC
version) and hence never try to interact with build artifacts created
from the host ghc?


Also, if we can `cabal install ghc-the-library`, can we also `cabal
install ghc-the-program`, possibly at a different version? (It wouldn’t
be normally usable without bootstrapping a RTS and base library, but it
would be a step.)

Greetings,
Joachim

-- 
Joachim “nomeata” Breitner
  mail at joachim-breitner.de • https://www.joachim-breitner.de/
  XMPP: nomeata at joachim-breitner.de • OpenPGP-Key: 0xF0FBF51F
  Debian Developer: nomeata at debian.org
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