Closed Type Families: type checking dumbness? [was: separate instance groups]

[AntC]

> From: AntC 
> Date: 2015-06-04 22:39:25 GMT 
>
> Take the standard example for partial overlaps.
> Suppose I have a class: ...

> I'm also getting (in more complex examples)
> GHC complaining it can't infer the types
> for the result of f.
> So now I'm having to put type equality
> constraints on the class instances,
> to assure it that F comes up with 
> the right type.

In a reduced example, I'm still getting 
poor type checking. This is GHC 7.8.3.
This seems so dumb, I'm suspecting a defect,
It's similar to
but much more glaring than:
https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/10227
https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/9918

{-# LANGUAGE TypeFamilies,
             FlexibleInstances
   #-}
module ClosedTypeFamily where

    data Foo b c = Foo b c deriving (Eq, Read, Show)

    type family F a    where
      F (Foo Int c)  = Int        -- Foo Int is first instance
      F (Foo b Char) = Char

    class C a where f :: a -> F a

    instance C (Foo Int c) where  -- compiles OK
      f (Foo x _) = x

    instance (F (Foo b Char) ~ Char) => C (Foo b Char) where
      f (Foo _ y) = y

needs the eq constraint. Without it, GHC complains:
    Couldn't match expected type ‘F (Foo b Char)’
                with actual type ‘Char’
    Relevant bindings include
      f :: Foo b Char -> F (Foo b Char)
    In the expression: y
    In an equation for ‘f’: f (Foo _ y) = y

Note that if I change the sequence 
of the family instances for F,
then GHC instead complains
about the class instance for (Foo Int c).

OK these are overlapping class instances.
But GHC's usual behaviour
(without closed type families)
is to postpone complaining
until and unless a usage
(Foo Int Char) actually turns up.

BTW if I put a first family instance
      F (Foo Int Char) = Int
to explicitly catch the overlap,
then GHC complains about **both** class instances.

Reminder [to Richard]
I need not only types but also terms.

AntC