[Haskell-cafe] New type of ($) operator in GHC 8.0 is problematic

[Tom Ellis]

On Fri, Feb 05, 2016 at 07:19:25PM +0000, Tom Ellis wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 05, 2016 at 01:13:23PM -0500, Richard Eisenberg wrote:
> > We're in a bit of a bind in all this. We really need the fancy type for
> > ($) so that it can be used in all situations where it is used currently. 
> 
> Is there a list of situations where ($) is used currently that give rise to
> this need?

Does anyone have any idea about this?  What is it about ($) that means it
needs a new funky type whereas (apparently) nothing else does?