Haskell Platform Proposal: HLint

[Malcolm Wallace]

> The IHG did some work to move the GMP dependency from the RTS to a new
> integer-gmp package. The base library now uses this package to
> implement the Integer type. It is also possible to use an alternative
> integer package but you have to rebuild base and the rest of the
> world. The default remains integer-gmp.

So what you are saying is that the Haskell Platform already includes  
(by default, unless someone goes to unusual lengths to avoid it), an  
LGPL library, which no-one has (yet) objected to.

> I'm pretty sure that under a strict reading we're
> violating the licence of the H98 and FFI reports because we do not
> reproduced them in their entirety.

The H'98 (pace H'2010) licence says:

"The authors and publisher intend this Report to belong to the entire  
Haskell community, and grant permission to copy and distribute it for  
any purpose, provided that it is reproduced in its entirety, including  
this Notice.  Modified versions of this Report may also be copied and  
distributed for any purpose, provided that the modified version is  
clearly presented as such, and that it does not claim to be a  
definition of the language Haskell 98[2010]."

Distributing the source code of the H'98 (2010) libraries is indeed a  
failure to distribute the Report in its entirety.  But as long the  
source code makes it clear that it does not claim to be an unmodified  
_definition_ of the language (or libraries?), then I think the licence  
permits it.

Regards,
     Malcolm