While we are at it, here is another proposal that I think should be straightforward. Oleg has proposed that we do essentially the same trick Richard proposed to unify Nat and Natural, but with Symbol and String. Specifically, he is proposing that we replace @data Symbol@ with @newtype Symbol = MkSymbol String@. I won't try and encapsulate any further -- the original is concise and clear. * Oleg's "Make Symbol a newtype over String" proposal: https://github.com/ghc-proposals/ghc-proposals/blob/symbol-type/proposals/00... * For comparison, Richard's accepted "Unify Nat and Natural" proposal: https://github.com/goldfirere/ghc-proposals/blob/natural/proposals/0000-unif... I suggest we allow the usual two weeks to speak or forever hold your peace. Chris