[Haskell-cafe] Hackage policy question

[Wolfgang Jeltsch]

Am Mittwoch, 10. September 2008 00:59 schrieb Duncan Coutts:
> […]

> The .tar.gz packages are pristine and must not change, however
> the .cabal file that is kept in the hackage index could change and that
> information will be reflected both in the hackage website and just as
> importantly for tools like cabal-install.

I don’t think this is a good idea.  The package description, list of exposed 
modules, etc. belongs to the software, in my opinion.  So changing it means 
changing the software which should be reflected by a version number increase.

Why can’t package maintainers double-check that they got everything in the 
Cabal file right before the package is uploaded to Hackage?  And if one has 
forgotten a URL or something like that, it is still possible to release a new 
version where just the 4th component of the version number was changed which 
means precisely that the interface didn’t change.

> […]

> The difference here is that those two would be in the same format,
> the .cabal file inside the tarball that never changes and the one in the
> index which may do. This is also the objection that some people have,
> that it would be confusing to have the two versions, especially that
> unpacking the tarball gives the old unmodified version.

Yes, it *is* confusing.

> […]

> I hope to implement this feature in the new hackage server implementation
> that I'll be announcing shortly.

May I kindly ask you to *not* implement this feature?

> […]

Best wishes,
Wolfgang