[Haskell-cafe] Hackage Package version ranges

[Neil Mitchell]

Hi,

I maintain the Haskell package HLint. HLint depends on
haskell-src-exts, cpphs, hscolour and uniplate, plus things which are
shipped with GHC. For each of the external library dependencies, I
have to specify a version constraint. For example, I developed HLint
against cpphs-1.10 so I can write one of:

1) cpphs == 1.10.*
2) cpphs >= 1.10

I know (1) works, since I've tested it. However, every time I use (1)
some distro (usually Arch) emails me to say they need wider ranges so
they can get all their packages consistent. I then usually flip to
(2). Then, sometime later, someone releases a new version of cpphs
that changes the interface in a way that breaks HLint, and I get
emails from users, and tend to go back to (1). Flip flopping between
version constraints isn't a great idea. What should I do?

Alternatively, if I could sign up to be emailed when something went
wrong, I'd happily fix it. i.e. I'd like an email either when my
package fails to compile against the latest version of all packages
but within my constrained range, or when the latest version falls
outside my constraint range.

Thanks, Neil