Do you use GHC?

[Simon Peyton-Jones]

Dear Haskell folk,

PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU USE THE Glasgow Haskell Compiler (GHC). 

I virtually never send messages to overlapping sets of lists, but I'm
doing so this time, because I'd really like to get to everyone who uses
GHC.

Here at GHC HQ, we are often asked how many people use GHC, and what
kind of folk they are.  Since GHC is free software, we have no clue.
Download stats tell us a bit, but not much, because GHC gets out through
a variety of other routes too (e.g. Debian).  We also have little idea
about which aspects of GHC are most valued, nor of what enhancements
would be most sought after, or which platforms are most important to
you.  We hear quite a bit from the bleeding-edge folk who push the
limits, but much less from people who just want to get the job done.

Thus motivated, Tomasz Zielonka kindly put together a (WASH-powered)
survey for us, which asks you to tell us a bit yourself and how you use
GHC. We've had about 230 responses so far; thank you to those 230 folk.
But I'm pretty certain there are more than 230 people in the world who
use GHC!

	THIS MESSAGE IS TO ASK YOU TO 
	TAKE 5 MINS TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY
	http://www.haskell.org/ghc/survey/start.cgi

We'd like to hear from *absolutely everyone* who uses GHC: whether you
are a first-year undergraduate or a famous professor; whether you use
GHC for industrial applications or recreation; whether you use
higher-rank polymorphism or have only just learned what functional
programming is.  Everyone!

We'll use the information to guide our future priorities, and we'll
publish some kind of summary of what we learn in due course.  It's all
anonymous, of course, unless you choose to say who you are.

	If you think it's appropriate, please circulate this
	announcement locally, e.g. to your students 
	who may not be on the Haskell mailing list

Many thanks

Simon PJ and Simon Marlow