I'm not too optimistic we could actually get the final release out during February, assuming we want to allow a couple of weeks for people to test an RC.
Does the Haskell Platform actually want to commit to using a GHC release with "tons of [new] stuff", that has had little testing, days or weeks after its release? I thought the idea was that it would favour known-good releases over the latest-and-greatest, but perhaps I misunderstood or the philosophy has changed. Thanks Ian On Thu, Feb 07, 2013 at 09:00:37AM -0500, Richard Eisenberg wrote: > Geoff's reasoning seems quite sound. > +1 for February release. > > On Feb 7, 2013, at 3:50 AM, Geoffrey Mainland <mainl...@apeiron.net> wrote: > > > In practice the versions of GHC that are widely used are those that are > > included in the platform. Maybe we should coordinate with their next > > release? They are targeting a May 6 release, and the release process is > > starting March 4, so it sounds like the original GHC release plan > > (February release) would be a good fit for the platform as it would > > allow library writers to catch up and ensure that STABLE was tested > > enough for inclusion in the platform. It would be a shame to miss the > > platform release. > > > > Geoff > > > > On 02/07/2013 08:25 AM, Simon Peyton-Jones wrote: > >> Dear GHC users, > >> > >> * > >> > >> * > >> > >> *Carter*: Will this RTS update make it into ghc 7.8 update thats coming > >> up in the next monthish? > >> > >> *Andreas*: We are almost there - we are now trying to sort out a problem > >> on mac os x. It would be helpful to know if there is a cutoff date for > >> getting things into 7.8. > >> > >> > >> > >> Simon, Ian, and I have just been discussing 7.8, and would be interested > >> in what you guys think. > >> > >> > >> At ICFP we speculated that we’d make a release of GHC soon after > >> Christmas to embody tons of stuff that has been included since 7.6, > >> specifically: > >> > >> · major improvements in DPH (vectorisation avoidance, new > >> vectoriser) > >> > >> · type holes > >> > >> · rebindable list syntax > >> > >> · major changes to the type inference engine > >> > >> · type level natural numbers > >> > >> · overlapping type families > >> > >> · the new code generator > >> > >> · support for vector (SSE/AVX) instructions > >> > >> > >> > >> Whenever it comes it would definitely be great to include Andreas & > >> friends’ work: > >> > >> · Scheduler changes to the RTS to improve latency > >> > >> > >> > >> The original major reason for proposing a post-Xmas release was to get > >> DPH in a working state out into the wild. However, making a proper > >> release imposes costs on everyone else. Library authors have to scurry > >> around to make their libraries work, etc. Some of the new stuff hasn’t > >> been in HEAD for that long, and hence has not been very thoroughly > >> tested. (But of course making a release unleashes a huge wave of > >> testing that doesn’t happen otherwise.) > >> > >> > >> > >> So another alternative is to leave it all as HEAD, and wait another few > >> months before making a release. You can still use all the new stuff by > >> compiling HEAD, or grabbing a snapshot distribution. And it makes it > >> hard for the Haskell platform if GHC moves too fast. Many people are > >> still on 7.4. > >> > >> > >> > >> There seem to be pros and cons each way. I don’t have a strong > >> opinion. If you have a view, let us know. > >> > >> > >> > >> Simon _______________________________________________ Haskell-platform mailing list Haskell-platform@projects.haskell.org http://projects.haskell.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/haskell-platform
