Alastair,
Thanks for all the info. Yes, people do use scanning ftp scripts :)
Speaking of which, my scanning hasn't found Greencard2.lhs yet---where
is it? :)
> We've rewritten the Win32/Greencard interface to suit the new language but
> have no spare cycles to redo the Xlib/Greencard interface.
> Which means: we don't plan to distribute an Xlib interface with Hugs 1.4.
That is an unfortunate situation. I would do this if I knew enough X;
maybe it's mechanical enough that in-depth X knowledge is not
necessary?
> > Thanks for Hugs---using it from within Emacs is quite a joy.
> > Hopefully, one day someone will start a GPLed Haskell system.
>
> I think all the Haskell compilers have quite relaxed licenses on them.
> I'm not sure what we'd gain from GPLing them?
> Or are you really asking for a more open development model like that
> used for Linux?
What do you gain? Linux is a prominent success of the GPL, drawing
significantly on idealism not unlike that for the Ultimate Compiler or
the Ultimate Editor. Emacs, gcc, Guile, Mercury, ..., why not
Haskell? Yes, as a separate issue, the Linux "bazaar" development
model would help also. I believe SPJ mentioned Eric Raymond's article
about this. More open development may aid "externals" such as the
XLib interface, etc.
I quote the motivation of the Hugs license:
In specifying these conditions, our intention is to permit widespread
use of Hugs while, at the same time, protecting the interests, rights
and efforts of all those involved.
I've lost track of the number of times that I've seen "this software
PROTECTED by the GPL" (emphasis mine). Linus initially released Linux
under a somewhat restricted Hugs-like license, but eventually relaxed
it to the GPL. What do you think? Does this make any sense or is it
much ado about nothing?
Sorry for the ramble,
Bake
