| What were the objections? Especially the principle ones?
Please read the info pages, which set out the arguments quite carefully.
Also, I spammed several email lists to ensure broad coverage, but it'd be best to debate on the libraries@haskell.org, rather than reply-to-all; that's what it's for. (Which I failed to send the announcement to! I'll fix that.)
Simon
| -----Original Message-----
| From: Miguel Mitrofanov [mailto:miguelimo38@yandex.ru]
| Sent: 10 February 2015 15:59
| To: Simon Peyton Jones; haskell@haskell.org; Haskell Cafe (haskell-
| cafe@haskell.org); GHC users; ghc-devs@haskell.org
| Subject: Re: [Haskell-cafe] GHC 7.10 Prelude: we need your opinion
|
| What were the objections? Especially the principle ones?
|
| 10.02.2015, 18:51, "Simon Peyton Jones" :
| > Haskell Friends
| >
| > This email asks for your help in deciding how to proceed with some
| Prelude changes in GHC 7.10. Please read on, but all the info is also
| at the survey link, here: http://goo.gl/forms/XP1W2JdfpX. Deadline
| is 21 Feb.
| >
| > The Core Libraries Committee (CLC) is responsible for developing the
| core libraries that ship with GHC. This is an important but
| painstaking task, and we owe the CLC a big vote of thanks for taking
| it on.
| >
| > For over a year the CLC has been working on integrating the Foldable
| and Traversable classes (shipped in base in GHC 7.8) into the core
| libraries, and into the Prelude in particular. Detailed planning for
| GHC 7.10 started in the autumn of 2014, and the CLC went ahead with
| this integration.
| >
| > Then we had a failure of communication. As these changes affect the
| Prelude, which is in scope for all users of Haskell, these changes
| should be held to a higher bar than the regular libraries@ review
| process. However, the Foldable/Traversable changes were not
| particularly well signposted. Many people have only recently woken up
| to them, and some have objected (both in principle and detail).
| >
| > This is an extremely unfortunate situation. On the one hand we are
| at RC2 for GHC 7.10, so library authors have invested effort in
| updating their libraries to the new Prelude. On the other, altering
| the Prelude is in effect altering the language, something we take
| pretty seriously. We should have had this debate back in 2014, but
| here we are, and it is unproductive to argue about whose fault it is.
| We all share responsibility.
| >
| > We need to decide what to do now. A small group of us met by Skype
| and we've decided to do this:
| >
| > · Push back GHC 7.10's release by at least a month, to late
| March. This delay also gives us breathing space to address an
| unrelated show-stopping bug, Trac #9858.
| >
| > · Invite input from the Haskell community on which of two
| approaches to adopt (this survey). The main questions revolve around
| impact on the Haskell ecosystem (commercial applications, teaching,
| libraries, etc etc), so we want to ask your opinion rather than guess
| it.
| >
| > · Ask Simon Marlow and Simon Peyton Jones to decide which
| approach to follow for GHC 7.10.
| >
| > Wiki pages have been created summarizing these two primary
| alternatives, including many more points and counter-points and
| technical details:
| >
| > · Overall summary:
| https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/Prelude710
| >
| > · Details of Plan List:
| https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/Prelude710/List
| >
| > · Details of Plan FTP:
| https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/Prelude710/FTP
| >
| > This survey invites your input on which plan we should follow. Would
| you please
| >
| > · Read the details of the alternative plans on the three
| wiki pages above
| >
| > · Add your response to the survey
| >
| > Please do read the background. Well-informed responses will
| help. Thank you!
| >
| > DEADLINE: 21 February 2015
| >
| > Simon PJ
| >
| > ,
| >
| > _______________________________________________
| > Haskell-Cafe mailing list
| > Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org
| > http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
