
Hi all Following a link from the Yesod book, I arrived at [1], curious to find out what groundhog was. Once there, I learned... nothing: "This library provides just the general interface and helper functions. You must use a specific backend in order to make this useful." [1] http://hackage.haskell.org/package/groundhog Hoping to find more, I clicked on the top-level module. Once again, the text here was uninformative, though from the example it seems to be something to do with databases (and it is to be applauded for including an example in the docs). So, package authors: PLEASE, tell me what your package does in the description. Tell me *again* in the top-level haddocks (I may have come directly there by a link). And then, tell me where to look for more information. Instead of "This module defines the functions and datatypes used throughout the framework. Most of them are for internal use", tell me which are *not* for internal use. Write documentation for people who don't know how to use your package. Some people prefer to have this outside of the haddocks (I don't like this because papers and blogs are less likely to stay up to date than what is embedded in the file, but for tutorials etc. a website might be more appropriate) but if so link to it from both the Haddocks and the package description. But I also have a concrete suggestion for Hackage: include the package synopsis on the package's page. The distinction between synopsis and description can be confusing, and sometimes it seems to violate DRY to have the same info in both. To the author of groundhog: I hope you are not offended by my picking on your package. It's not the only culprit -- just the one that pushed me over the edge. Of course, I would be pleased if this email encouraged you to fix it, but I am addressing this rant to the Haskell community because the problem is a cultural one. --Max