> Perhaps Buck2 won't be the ultimate solution. Much of the work here could be reused by something else, because `cabal buck2` generates an intermediate "build spec" (basically a JSON blob of Cabal's build info) from which the Buck2 rules are generated, so it would be straightforward to retarget that for another build tool. What other options are there?
Nix, jinja, make? Again, if we have everything modeled as a generic cabal project, and can use cabal to build it, or produce a buck2, or other backend output (wasn’t there even a shake backend for cabal somewhere?), this will not only work for GHC, but for _any_ cabal project. Also it will mean anyone familiar with cabal projects will be able to work on GHC fairly quickly. And last, the effort sunk into Hadrian could instead be sunk into finally making cabal better. (Fixing bugs! Not making it a custom GHC builder—that would benefit everyone). Let’s reduce complexity together! Best, Moritz PS: yes I know I have been heavily involved in the development of Hadrian and have been calling for its sunsetting for a long time now. My vision for Hadrian has always been just as a stepping stone towards a cabal built GHC. On Wed, Oct 21, 2026 at 1:17 AM Simon Marlow via ghc-devs < [email protected]> wrote: > On Tue, 20 Oct 2026 at 15:40, Simon Jakobi <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Simon, you might also tend to it a >> bit, and bring it to level of usability that is above what we have now >> with Hadrian. Would that be a realistic expectation? >> > > Yes that's the plan, if we decide to go this route. > > Cheers > Simon > > >> >> Am Mo., 19. Okt. 2026 um 16:07 Uhr schrieb Simon Marlow via ghc-devs >> <[email protected]>: >> > >> > As I mentioned to a few people recently, I wanted to explore replacing >> Hadrian with Buck2. I've got a prototype to the point where it can build >> the stage2 compiler and all the libraries on Linux: >> > >> > > buck2 run :stage2-ghc -- --interactive >> > GHCi, version 10.1.20261017: https://www.haskell.org/ghc/ :? for help >> > Using default language edition: GHC2024 >> > ghci> 1+2 >> > 3 >> > ghci> >> > >> > This includes dynamic/static, all the RTS ways and profiling is >> allegedly working although I haven't tested it very much. >> > >> > It's a LOT smaller than Hadrian - hard to say exactly how much because >> some of the code is in the shared projects cabal-buck2 and haskell-buck2, >> but there's about 1400 lines of Buck2 stuff in the ghc repo and nothing in >> the library submodules. >> > >> > I've written up the design along with some notes on how to set it up >> and try it over here: >> https://github.com/simonmar/ghc/blob/buck2/README.buck2.md >> > >> > Keen to hear what people think about this. Are there key metrics that >> we should measure to understand whether it's better than Hadrian? What are >> the workflow aspects that people find slow currently? >> > >> > Cheers >> > Simon >> > _______________________________________________ >> > ghc-devs mailing list -- [email protected] >> > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> > _______________________________________________ > ghc-devs mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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