#8050: add a required wrapper around plugin installers -------------------------------------+------------------------------------ Reporter: nfrisby | Owner: Type: task | Status: new Priority: normal | Milestone: Component: Compiler | Version: 7.6.3 Resolution: | Keywords: Operating System: Unknown/Multiple | Architecture: Unknown/Multiple Type of failure: None/Unknown | Difficulty: Unknown Test Case: | Blocked By: Blocking: | Related Tickets: -------------------------------------+------------------------------------ Comment (by nfrisby): Replying to [comment:1 simonpj]:
Why can't the call to `mkPluginInstaller` be done by GHC itself, on line 314 of `SimplCore`? Why make the users call it?
Simon
My objective for `mkPluginInstaller` is generality: GHC can do whatever it needs in order for the plugin to otherwise Just Work. We have one example — as late as some GHC 7.6 installations — where this requires the plugin to be the caller of the `mkPluginInstaller`-esque function. `reinitializeGlobals` ([[Plugins/ReinitializeGlobals|cf]]) only works if it's called by the plugin, not by the compiler. So, for the sake of futureproofness, the plugin must be the caller of `mkPluginInstaller` in order for it to be able to handle issues like the multiple instances of libHSghc. The underlying problem fixed by `reinitializeGlobals` is that multiple libHSghc instances may exist, eg one for the compiler and one for a plugin. Unfortunately, a user-convenient, robust, omni-platform method to prevent multiple instances of libHSghc does not appear to be in the near future. Moreover, it's not clear that such a solution could be permanent, considering the difficulty of handling dynamic linking on the numerous [[Platforms]]. -- Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/8050#comment:2 GHC http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler