Wither Haskell Platform 2013.4.0.0
Friends — Deep apologies for being so out of touch the last two months(*). In theory, we should be rev'ing up to produce Haskell Platform 2013.4.0.0, but I'd like to explore our options at this time: *1) Proceed as normal:* Such a release would use GHC 7.6.3, as did HP 2013.2.0.0, since that is still the current GHC release. Hence all the core library versions would remain the same, and by my rough eyeballing it, half the platform libraries would remain the same. The only big change might be OpenGL/GLUT libs, which has bumped a major version... though I don't know if that API change is too great or not. Given the time frame, we are unlikely to have any additional packages. This stance brings up the issue that 7.6.3, out of the box, won't work with Xcode 5, and hence the upcoming release of OS X Mavericks (10.9). *2) Delay a month:* This would give us time to consider new packages, which would make the release somewhat more valuable. However, a December release is hard due to holidays, so likelihood would be late December, or January release. *3) Ask GHC Central to produce 7.6.4:* This would incorporate the changes needed work with Xcode 5. This would clearly involve a month delay as in #2. *4) Skip it:* We could just decide that 2013.4.0.0 doesn't offer enough value to run the process now, and simply focus our efforts this cycle on improving the infrastructure that builds HP. Thoughts? I'm particularly interested to hear from HP library maintainers to know if there was/is something important to get out in an HP ASAP. I'd also like to better understand what our Xcode5 options are, and if/how/when we could see the latest cabal in the platform. Again, sorry that this small HP timing crisis is mostly my fault, — Mark (*) At least my excuse is that I was writing music with Haskell for those two months!
I think making the HP release cycle purely time-based is not the best option. For a large amount of users, the HP and what comes with it (including the associated compiler) is what "Haskell" is. If something does not work with the HP, then Haskell does not work. - Support for the latest OS is crucial, probably most importantly to avoid bad publicity. "Hard to install" is an image that's not easily changed when search engines are full of hacks that make it somehow work again. - Are there significant changes in the HP libraries compared to the last release? Is there a good reason to make people update to the latest packages? - In the light of the AMP, I think a relatively early adoption of 7.8 would be very beneficial in order to prepare Hackage. Releasing this year with 7.8 would not be a good idea, but maybe next spring (which would be halfway between the usual HP release dates) is possible? In short, my vote is "delay until it works with all OS and 7.8". David
with all due respect, we can't delay a HP release this fall, we need one that works with OS 10.9 Mavericks / Xcode 5 this fall. as Austin has opined, the right way to do this is to have a bug fix release for 7.6 this fall that addresses the OS X issues. -- Carter Schonwald On October 13, 2013 at 4:22:34 PM, David Luposchainsky (dluposchainsky@googlemail.com) wrote: I think making the HP release cycle purely time-based is not the best option. For a large amount of users, the HP and what comes with it (including the associated compiler) is what "Haskell" is. If something does not work with the HP, then Haskell does not work. - Support for the latest OS is crucial, probably most importantly to avoid bad publicity. "Hard to install" is an image that's not easily changed when search engines are full of hacks that make it somehow work again. - Are there significant changes in the HP libraries compared to the last release? Is there a good reason to make people update to the latest packages? - In the light of the AMP, I think a relatively early adoption of 7.8 would be very beneficial in order to prepare Hackage. Releasing this year with 7.8 would not be a good idea, but maybe next spring (which would be halfway between the usual HP release dates) is possible? In short, my vote is "delay until it works with all OS and 7.8". David _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries
On 2013-10-13 22:31, Carter Schonwald wrote:
with all due respect, we can't delay a HP release this fall, we need one that works with OS 10.9 Mavericks / Xcode 5 this fall.
I didn't know that the "upcoming" release was that close. In that case I agree that fixing these issues is more important than shipping 7.8. David
On Sun, Oct 13, 2013 at 1:22 PM, David Luposchainsky < dluposchainsky@googlemail.com> wrote:
In short, my vote is "delay until it works with all OS and 7.8".
Agreed. An important idea behind the original scheduling of the HP releases is that the dust should settle from the the latest GHC release before shipping an HP that uses it. The HP is about stability and reliability, not latest and greatest. That means I don't use the HP, but that's okay with me because I've already agreed to pay the early adopter's tax. Jason
participants (4)
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Carter Schonwald -
David Luposchainsky -
Jason Dagit -
Mark Lentczner