[Haskell] Re: [Haskell-cafe] Please check your dependencies on fgl

[Ian Lynagh]

On Mon, Jun 07, 2010 at 11:50:44AM -0700, Donald Bruce Stewart wrote:
> ivan.miljenovic:
> > Thomas Bereknyei are currently re-writing fgl (just about completely
> > from scratch) and we plan to make an initial release to get feedback
> > on the API in the next few weeks.
> > 
> > However, I'm sending this email out now to warn people that I highly
> > doubt any code that was written for the current version of fgl
> > (http://hackage.haskell.org/package/fgl-5.4.2.2) will work with the
> > new version.
> 
> How about you give the library a different name then -- so as not to
> break all those programs?

Programs which use an upper bound on their fgl dependency, as the PvP
advises, won't break.

> A complete rewrite with a new maintainer: fgl-awesome

In 10 years time, we don't want to have
    fgl
    fgl-awesome
    fgl-great
    fgl-joe
which all do the same thing, and have an unclear relationship to each
other.

I think the important question is: Once the new FGL is finished, will
there be a good reason (other than backwards compatibility) for people
to use the current FGL?

If yes, then different names should be used. Otherwise, no matter how
different the API is, keeping the same name is the right thing to do.

So if there is consensus that the new design is a better fgl, I think it
ought to keep the name.


Thanks
Ian