[Haskell] base libraries

[Malcolm Wallace]

Sven Panne <sven.panne at aedion.de> wrote:

> Given a normal Linux distribution, the *only* sensible way to 
> install/remove/... any SW is not via some specialized tools like
> cabal-foo or  hackage-bar, but via tools like rpm, apt-get, smart, ...
> and their related  GUI frontends.

Right.  And one of the explicit goals of Cabal was to provide enough
infrastructure on the Haskell side to make it easy for rpm/apt/smart
builders to do their job.  The idea was that Cabal is a minimal but
compiler-independent interface to build source code, register libraries
with a compiler's package database, and so on.  Then an RPM/whatever can
be used to install/uninstall the library package (internally calling the
Cabal routines to build/register it).

Cabal-get and hackage do go a bit beyond that, but they are intended for
those who do not live in an OS-package managed universe (or who don't
want to).

> Another thing is that I fear duplication  of features like e.g.
> package signing, handling installation sources,  searching for new
> packages, notification of updates, etc.

Sure, there are already so many OS package managers out there... :-)

I don't think we want to duplicate all those "advanced" features in
Haskell.  But I do think it would be useful to provide some of the basic
package manager services (auto-download, auto-dependency validation) for
those who do not have a package manager.  Keep it simple though.  If a
user starts to need more features, then she should probably look into
just using rpm/apt/smart/ports instead.

Regards,
    Malcolm