I copy & paste Hervert's reddit answer here [1], for ones who don't follow it:
As the suffix "alpha" implies, this is a very bleeding edge release with very little guarantees regarding API stability (c.f. new GHC schedule [2] <https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/WorkingConventions/Releases/NewSchedule>). Put differently, a package that works now with GHC 8.4.1-alpha1 may not necessarily work with the final GHC 8.4.1 release. In order to support early adopters in testing GHC 8.4.1-alpha, there's a new Overlay Hackage Package Index <https://github.com/hvr/head.hackage> [3] which provides packages patched for unreleased GHCs (currently GHC 8.4.1-alpha1 & GHC 8.5/HEAD). See its README <https://github.com/hvr/head.hackage#README> [4] for instructions on how to use it; there's also a shell script included which automates common workflows; finally there's also support for HEAD.hackage in themake-travis-yml Travis CI script generator <https://github.com/haskell-hvr/multi-ghc-travis>. [5] Don't hesitate to ask if you have questions! As usual, there's already an (incomplete & work-in-progress) GHC 8.4.x Migration Guide <https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/Migration/8.4> [6] you can consult and maybe even help complete. Links: - [1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/7l4b19/announce_ghc_841alpha1_available/drjlc3w/ - [2]: https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/WorkingConventions/Releases/NewSchedule - [3]: https://github.com/hvr/head.hackage - [4]: https://github.com/hvr/head.hackage#README - [5]: https://github.com/haskell-hvr/multi-ghc-travis - [6]: https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/wiki/Migration/8.4 Cheers, Oleg On 21.12.2017 22:16, George Colpitts wrote: > Thanks Ben. I installed the Mac binaries. > > For others who are wondering, you need llvm 5 if you want to use llvm > with this. > > Needless to say, many libraries, e.g. haskell-src-exts, primitive, and > intero won't compile with this even with --allow-newer > > I'll notify those libraries about that in case they want to get > started on 8.4.1 > > Cheers > George > > On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 4:48 PM Ben Gamari <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > The GHC development team is pleased to announce the first alpha > release > of the 8.4.1 release. The usual release artifacts are available from > > https://downloads.haskell.org/~ghc/8.4.1-alpha1 > <https://downloads.haskell.org/%7Eghc/8.4.1-alpha1> > > Note that this release drops compatibility with GCC 4.6 and earlier. > While we generally try to place as few constraints on system toolchain > as possible, this release depends upon the __atomic__ builtins > provided > by GCC 4.7 and later (see #14244). > > > === Notes on release scheduling === > > The 8.4.1 release marks the first release where GHC will be > adhering to > its new, higher-cadence release schedule [1]. Under this new scheme, > major releases will be made in 6-month intervals with interstitial > minor > releases as necessary. > > In order to minimize the likelihood of schedule slippage and to ensure > adequate testing, each major release will be preceeded by a number of > regular alpha releases. We will begin issuing these releases roughly > three months before the final date of the major release and will issue > roughly one every two weeks during this period. This high release > cadence will allow us to quickly get fixes in to users hands and allow > better feedback on the status of the release. > > GHC 8.4 is slated to be released in mid-February but, due to technical > constraints, we are starting the alpha-release cycle a bit later than > planned under the above schedule. For this reason, it would be greatly > appreciated if users could put this alpha through its paces to make up > for lost time. > > As always, do let us know if you encounter any trouble in the > course of > testing. Thanks for your help! > > Cheers, > > - Ben > > > [1] https://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/blog/2017-release-schedule > _______________________________________________ > Glasgow-haskell-users mailing list > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/glasgow-haskell-users > > > > _______________________________________________ > ghc-devs mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ghc-devs
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