Thanks for the clarification, the SICP article was something I feel I should have known, but did not.
It seems to me that while there are *three* ways to install stuff: apt-get install, cabal install --global, and cabal install --user, there are just *two* ways things get installed, globally and user(ly?). The "obvious" solution would be to have three package.confs as well, say "system" (/var/lib), "global" (/usr/lib?), and "user" (~/.ghc). Is there a fundamental limitation of GHC or something that makes it impossible to work with three package configuration files? Or would this not solve anything after all? -k "Albert Y. C. Lai" <tre...@vex.net> writes: > On 10-11-29 03:15 PM, Albert Y. C. Lai wrote: >> cabal install --global binary >> apt-get install libghc6-binary-dev >> >> They are the same version (at the time of writing, and assume Ubuntu >> 10.10) and they will fight for the unique throne of "binary-0.5.0.2" in >> the metadata. > > Oh bother, Debian/Ubuntu's packages are even more treacherous. They > circumvent the uniqueness checks of ghc-pkg register. They just > smuggle records into /var/lib/ghc-6.12.1/package.conf.d and call > ghc-pkg recache. This procedure allows both binary-0.5.0.2 instances > to be recorded, both as global. Ironically, ghc-pkg check does not see > a problem. > > But this is more corruption, not less: > >> cabal install --global maccatcher >> (this brings in binary) >> apt-get install libghc6-agda-dev >> (this brings in libghc6-binary-dev) > > The same problem remains. When you finally try to use binary, GHC > still picks one instance only. Depend on luck, one of maccatcher and > agda is hosed. > _______________________________________________ > Haskell-Cafe mailing list > Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org > http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe -- If I haven't seen further, it is by standing in the footprints of giants _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe