GHC 9.1?

[Richard Eisenberg]

Hi devs,

I understand that GHC uses the same version numbering system as the Linux kernel did until 2003(*), using odd numbers for unstable "releases" and even ones for stable ones. I have seen this become a point of confusion, as in: "Quick Look just missed the cutoff for GHC 9.0, so it will be out in GHC 9.2" "Um, what about 9.1?"

Is there a reason to keep this practice? Linux moved away from it 18 years ago and seems to have thrived despite. Giving this convention up on a new first-number change (the change from 8 to 9) seems like a good time.

I don't feel strongly about this, at all -- just asking a question that maybe no one has asked in a long time.

Richard

(*) I actually didn't know that Linux stopped doing this until writing this email, wondering why we needed to tie ourselves to Linux. I coincidentally stopped using Linux full-time (and thus administering my own installation) in 2003, when I graduated from university.