+1 On Jan 19, 2014 3:15 PM, "Mark Lentczner" wrote:

Looks like GHC 7.8 is pretty near release.

And while I know that we really like to have a GHC out for a while, and perhaps see the .1 release, before we incorporate it into the Platform, this GHC, while including many new and anticipated things, seems pretty well hammered on.

Combine that with the now two-month late (all my fault) HP release for 2013.4.0.0 isn't slated to really have all that much new in it, in part because it is the same GHC as the last HP release.

Now - it would really look foolish, and taken poorly (methinks) if we release a HP this month - only to have GHC 7.8 release early Feb. Folks would really be head scratching, and wondering about the platform.

SO - I'm proposing ditching the now late 2013.4.0.0 (I admit, I'm finding it hard to get excited by it!) and instead move right to putting out 2014.2.0.0 - aimed for mid-March to mid-April.

This release would have several big changes:

- GHC 7.8 - New shake based build for the Platform - Support for validation via package tests - Support for a "server variant" (no OpenGL or other GUI stuff if we had any) - Automated version info w/historical version matrix page - Several significant packages: I'd like to see Aeson at the very least, updated OpenGL stuff

I'd also propose changes for the Mac build (though this is obviously independent):

- Built from GHC source, not dist. release. (guarantees consistent release) - Only 64bit (I know, controversial...)

Thoughts?

_______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries

As someone who frequently installs Haskell on servers, I'm interested in what you have in mind. My install process basically consists of 3 steps: 1) Install GHC from bindist 2) Delete all the documentation (except licenses), and all the stuff that's only needed for profiling, dynamic linking, and GHCi; 3) Install caball-install I'm not interested in any other pre-installed packages, because cabal-install will download and install what's needed when it needs it. The basic idea of HP - a pre-selected set of libraries to base development on - is only meaningful for developer workstations, not the servers that they deploy their software to. As for making it easier to install a working Haskell system, there's a separate proposal to include cabal-install with the bindist. -- View this message in context: http://haskell.1045720.n5.nabble.com/A-modest-proposal-re-the-Platform-tp574... Sent from the Haskell - Libraries mailing list archive at Nabble.com.