Please don't deprecate Haskell 98 modules.

[Yitzchak Gale]

I wrote:
>> I think "deprecate" is just the wrong word. Gwern is not
>> saying that we should remove haskell98 from Hackage,
>> nor remove the -98 flag from Hugs, nor build a special
>> case into compilers that make modules not compile if
>> they use Haskell 98 syntax.

Aaron Denney wrote:
> It is precisely the right word -- in the context of computer standards
> it means discouraging use due to new ways of accomplishing the same
> thing, while still allowing it.  Doing any of those things you mentioned
> would not be deprecation, but breaking.

Sorry I was unclear. The word "deprecate" has taken on a more
precise technical meaning in some contexts. It means the first in
a two-or-more-step process of removing a feature. Instead of
abruptly replacing an old feature with a new one, you gradually make
the new feature more available and the old feature less available
from version to version, until finally the old feature is completely
removed. That is the sense in which I was understanding the
word.

In my opinion, Haskell needs better-defined deprecation
processes, both for Cabal and for Haskell Prime. That would
help reduce some of the pain people have been describing in
this thread.

Regards,
Yitz