That's what I expected. Would it be possible to include the new functions in 5.04.2? OK, that's an API change, too, but simple additions are rather harmless. If we don't include this stuff now, there is no useful common ForeignObj API for GHC/Hugs/NHC in the near future.
Ok, I suppose we could bend the rules a little in this case, as long as we don't change the behaviour of any existing functions.
[...] Also still unresolved is what to do about atomicModifyIORef and friends, BTW.
I remember atomicModifyIORef, but what are its "friends" exactly? PVars have died, IIRC, and some cunning constraints on the execution order of finalizers were rejected, too.
There was this, from Dean Herrington: http://haskell.cs.yale.edu/pipermail/ffi/2002-October/000940.html I don't have any strong feelings (I rarely do, where names are concerned). Cheers, Simon