[Haskell-cafe] Haskell Platform website error

[Mark Lentczner]

If you'd like to come help Haskell Platform, please join the mailing
list: *haskell-platform at projects.haskell.org
<haskell-platform at projects.haskell.org>*

Work on the platform tends to be very seasonal. I apologize for not getting
web fixes in sooner.

There are some bigger changes afoot with the platform. For one, I'm deep in
the middle of recoding the entire build system for it with several aims:

   - A fully automated build (based on shake) of both the source tarball,
   generic linux, and OS targets
   - Ability to run on build bots and validate as we improve the platform
   - Support for running validation tests of included packages
   - Automatic generation of most of the web site (currently all by hand)
   - Generation of "what version of package x is in HP y?" chart

With these changes we should be able to "turn the crank" more quickly, be
able to put out point releases if bugs in packages warrant, and focus our
energies on getting more diverse packages under the platform umbrella.

If you'd like to help with the project, here are some pots that need
stirring:

   - New web site design. Current one is stale, and probably isn't the best
   way to present the info. (*)
   - We are in issue tracking hell: The project uses trac, but many people
   use github to file bugs and features. This needs sorting out, cleaning up,
   and migrating all one way or the other. Then the list needs curation.
   - Automating builds for various OS targets (*)
   - Bringing existing packages under test. That is, where packages have
   tests, getting the new build system to use them. (*)
   - Writing some form of "whole system test" for the platform. Perhaps
   compiling pandoc is sufficient! :-) Or perhaps several key applications
   (real or synthetic) that cover the platform. It would be nice to be able to
   validate that a build and install works!

Now, items marked (*) may want to wait a week or two until I have the first
version of the new build up on github... but finding volunteers for these
would be great.

- Mark "waiting for quarter million lines to compile… again" Lentczner
  Release Manager, Haskell Platform

*P.S.: The platform now adds 34 packages to the GHC core: 248k lines of
source in 1.6k files, of which 164k lines are haskell in 1.1k files!*
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