Release plans

[Ian Lynagh]

Hi all,

Thank you to everyone who gave us feedback on when we should release
7.8.1, and on future release plans in general. We've looked at all the
responses, and we think that the best plan is to continue to make major
releases annually, with minor "patch-level" releases between them.

Additionally, we may recommend particular snapshots, and provide binary
builds for all tier-1 platforms, for people who wish to test new
features etc in HEAD.

There is more detail on how all this will work here:
    http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/WorkingConventions/Releases



We will therefore aim for a 7.8.1 release in October. We do not
currently expect to make a 7.6.3 release, although that may
change if serious bugs in 7.6.2 are discovered.


Would a 7.7.x recommended snapshot be useful to you? Tell us if you
want one. Compared to 7.6 it would contain:
  * polykinded Typeable library
  * major improvements in DPH (vectorisation avoidance, new vectoriser)
  * type holes
  * rebindable list syntax
  * major changes to the type inference engine
  * type level natural numbers
  * overlapping type families
  * the new code generator
  * support for vector (SSE/AVX) instructions
  * Scheduler changes to the RTS to improve latency
Is it worth us putting out a preview, or are you happy to work from
the nightly snapshots and wait for the full release in October?


Thanks
Ian