> Already some time ago, I've bootstrapped GHC 3.02 on one OpenBSD/i386
> machine. Because that was a non-trivial task (hc-boot didn't work),
> I now offer to make binary packages/distribution(s) of GHC for the
> latest and greatest OpenBSD release, coming out soon, namely 2.5.
Great, let me know where you put them and I'll add links to our web pages.
> There are some open questions:
>
> Does it make sense to do so of specific versions of GHC, for example
> the latest 3.0? ? If so: How do I retrieve the sources of that version
> from CVS (or via ftp)? For which version in the 4.0x branch does
> it make sense most? current (head revisions from CVS)?
If there are any patches to the sources, please send them to us for
inclusion. We're not actively developing 3.xx any more, so patches for a
recent 4.xx would be more helpful.
> Also, I've seen that it's possible to make binary distributions of
> GHC that are still a bit configurable (installation prefix, in
> particular). How is that done?
Just go to a build tree and type 'make binary-dist Project=Ghc'.
> Is there some version of GHC where hc-boot really works? That would
> be an interesting base for an OpenBSD 'port' (see ports(7) on
> any OpenBSD system).
It's supposed to work with GHC 3.xx, but since 4.xx the hc files have become
architecture dependent (the technical reason is that the Haskell calling
convention is now dependent on the number of registers available on the
target architecture). So we can provide hc files for say x86 and sparc,
which should allow bootstrapping on a system without GHC or Happy.
Regarding an OpenBSD "port" (this is the same as a FreeBSD port, right?
They use a single source base for the ports tree, I think) there was some
talk about one a while back, but it never materialised. I'll be happy to
provide a set of hc files for 4.02/x86 if you want to try this.
> Also, is there interest in binaries, and in what versions/forms?
If you make a port, then binaries will automatically be available from the
various OpenBSD/FreeBSD web sites. Alternatively, you could make a standard
GHC binary distribution (with 'make binary-dist').
Cheers,
Simon
