I think that "something" need to be done to make it easier to set up > GHC + cabal, independently of HP (unless HP becomes the "one true way" to install Haskell, which I doubt is the case).
Isn't that what this banner on http://www.haskell.org/ghc/download_ghc_7_6_3 is supposed to signify? "Stop! For most users, we recommend installing the Haskell Platform instead of GHC. The current Haskell Platform release includes a recent GHC release as well as some other tools (such as cabal), and a larger set of libraries that are known to work together." For the people who want GHC to include cabal-install, what are the obstacles to using the Haskell Platform instead? One possibility I can see is disk space. The other reason, raised by Carter at the start of this thread, is wanting to use the freshest GHC. Cheers, Ganesh