andrew:
I run a source based linux distro called Heretix, and I want to make a ghc package which will install with or without an existing ghc. At the moment, we supply a binary-ghc package, whch is a prerequisite of the from-source ghc package.
It seems to me that I can prepare HC tarballs for my target platforms (x86, x86_64) which will remove the need for the ghc-binary package. My questions:
1) Can I produce 'registered' hc files? The build manual bangs on about cross compiling unregistered hc files, which isn't really what I need.
2) Would a ghc built from registered hgc files every bit as good and complete as a normally bootstrapped ghc?
Yes, the OpenBSD versions of GHC build from registerised .hc tar balls. It's fast. If you're interested in this path, check out: http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/ports/lang/ghc/
If 1) and 2) then
3) Why don't you guys supply hc tarballs for bootstrapping on common platforms? They would seem to be rather more versatile than the usual rpms and binary tarballs.
Most distros are using binary bootstrapping. I think OpenBSD is the only one building from .hc src. -- Don