extending --make

[S.D.Mechveliani]

Hello,

I have a whish for the GHC `making' possibilities.

ghc-5*  -package-name --make 

is said trying to replace Makefile. But it is half-successful.
* First, it needs  -ohi  option working 
  (to move .hi -s to chosen directory).
* Second, could GHC provide options for creating libraries, 
  adding to library?

Explanation.
With  ghc-4,  I used Makefile and  -odir, -ohi  options to provide
the project installation. 
Makefile  contained 
  (1)
  the project directory tree description,
  variables holding the list of names for the  .hs, .hi, .o  files, 
  rules to convert  .hs --> .o,  and such.
Also it contained the library creation part:
  (2)
  foo:	$(objectFiles)
        ar -q   export/libHSfoo.a  `ls export/*.o`
        ranlib  export/libHSfoo.a
        rm -f   `ls export/*.o`
-------------------

Now, with ghc-5, I apply  
                   ghc -package-name foo  -odir export ... --make .. 

The part (1) cancels due to  --make.
Further, as ghc-5 observes in the package specification  

  library_dirs = [".../export"] 
  hs_libraries = ["libHSfoo"],

then, it can understand what library file is to be created - on
demand.
If  ghc -c  provided also the options like  -addto-lib -a,
                                            -addto-lib -o,
                                            ...
then it could `make' for the given package _with_ adding to 
library. So, GHC would be able to simplify Makefile to package 
setting.
The matter is that Makefile has a strange language, far from 
Haskell. Also why the Haskell user has to study library creation 
with `ar', `ranlib, `ld'? This, and Makefile look rather like a 
system hackering.

Regards,
-----------------
Serge Mechveliani
mechvel@botik.ru