leather:
1. Why can't the platform download site be hosted on www.haskell.org instead of hackage.haskell.org? I see that there's a redirect, but (imho) it would be ideal to have www.haskell.org/platform be the standard URL in my browser. It is easier to remember (for typing) and more obvious (for appearances).
It's a different server that we have better physical access to (i.e. I can check the logs).
2. What is the difference between "Haskell" and the "Haskell Platform"? I see one or the other in various places. To get from www.haskell.org to downloading the Mac software, I go through "Download Haskell," "Get the Haskell Platform > Mac," and "Download Haskell for Mac OS X (intel)."
3. By looking at http://hackage.haskell.org/platform/mac.html , I have no idea what I'm going to get when I click the "Download Haskell for Mac OS X (intel)" link. It would be nice to know what I'm getting myself into before I commit to waiting for this 137.9 MB file. Thanks to the wonder of deep links, one can also not be expected to traverse the path that I did in #2. Similarly, if I come to this link directly, I have no easy way of navigating to try to figure out what "Haskell" or "GHC" is.
4. The current link for the Mac image points to http://hackage.haskell.org/ platform/2010.1.0.0/haskell-platform-2010.1.0.1-i386.dmg . Note the inconsistency between the version in the directory and file names.
5. The directions on http://hackage.haskell.org/platform/mac.html say:
After downloading: * Open the .dmg file * Follow the install instructions
I see no "install instructions" in the .dmg file. I only see the following files: * GHC-6.12.1-i386.pkg * Haskell Platform 2010.1.0.1.pkg * Uninstall GHC
6. Since there are no "install instructions," I am not sure which .pkg to install first. Of course, fix #3 and you hopefully fix this one.
7. Why can't I have a single .pkg file? Why do I have an "Uninstall GHC" and not an "Uninstall Haskell Platform"?
--
I don't expect all of the above to necessarily have a direct solution. They are just my observations to share. Some of them are from the point of view of a newcomer, and some are from a perfectionist.
Thanks! I'm about to hop on a plane, but here's the darcs repo for the download website, if you want to address some of the issues -- e.g. return navigation links. http://code.haskell.org/haskell-platform I'd love patches and improvements to address the concerns above. -- Don