A sample revised prelude for numeric classes

[William Lee Irwin III]

At 2001-02-11 14:42, Dylan Thurston wrote:
> >I've started writing up a more concrete proposal for what I'd like the
> >Prelude to look like in terms of numeric classes.  Please find it
> >attached below.  It's still a draft and rather incomplete, but please
> >let me know any comments, questions, or suggestions.

On Sun, Feb 11, 2001 at 04:03:37PM -0800, Ashley Yakeley wrote:
> Apologies if this has been discussed and I missed it. When it comes to 
> writing a 'geek' prelude, what was wrong with the Basic Algebra Proposal 
> found in <ftp://ftp.botik.ru/pub/local/Mechveliani/basAlgPropos/> ? 
> Perhaps it could benefit from multi-parameter classes?

I'm not sure if there is anything concrete wrong with it, in fact, I'd
like to see it made into a Prelude, but there are several reasons why
I don't think it's being discussed here in the context of an alternative
for a Prelude.

	(1) It's widely considered too complex and/or too mathematically
		involved for the general populace (or whatever semblance thereof
		exists within the Haskell community).
	(2) As a "Geek Prelude", it's considered to have some aesthetic
		and/or usability issues.
	(3) For persons as insane as myself, it's actually not radical enough.

My commentary on it thus far is that I see it as high-quality software
that could not only already serve as a "Geek Prelude" for many users, but
upon which could also be based implementations and designs of future
"Geek Preludes". The fact that no one has discussed it is probably due
to a desire not to return to previous flamewars, but it should almost
definitely be discussed as a reference point.

I've actually been hoping that Mechveliani would chime in and comment on
the various ideas, since he's actually already been through the motions
of implementing an alternative Prelude and seen what sort of
difficulties arise from actually trying to do these things various ways.


Cheers,
Bill