Thanks to you both.
> mailinglists (such as cafe — look, it worked!)
I'm totally sold on this new-fangled mailing list thing. It's like slack for adults who like to shuffle at their own pace.
> Not thorough enough I say, as a sworn enemy.
I'm not really - I was kind of glad when they installed Haskell Platform with batteries so I could prove a point, if only to myself, that stack was the better choice, but it's been smooth sailing except for this one bug. I've been able to install everything I need, creating an isolated and sane oasis in this weird windows world.
I think I unfairly identify HP with cabal hell, and then the flashbacks trigger.