[project @ 1997-06-03 22:20:32 by andre]

[ghc-hetmet.git] / distrib / ANNOUNCE

diff --git a/distrib/ANNOUNCE b/distrib/ANNOUNCE
index 1938eae..011c1c9 100644 (file)
--- a/distrib/ANNOUNCE
+++ b/distrib/ANNOUNCE
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-            The Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 2.02
-            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+         The Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 2.02
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 
 We are pleased to announce the first release of the Glasgow Haskell
 Compiler (GHC, version 2.02) for *Haskell 1.4*.  Sources and binaries
 
 We are pleased to announce the first release of the Glasgow Haskell
 Compiler (GHC, version 2.02) for *Haskell 1.4*.  Sources and binaries

@@ -12,27 +12,27 @@ Report is online at
 
        http://haskell.cs.yale.edu/1.4/haskell-report.html
 
 
        http://haskell.cs.yale.edu/1.4/haskell-report.html
 

-GHC 2.02 is a beta-quality release:
+GHC 2.02 is a beta-quality release - some highlights:

 
   * It is reliable.
 
   * It is reliable.

-    It has been extensively tested against a large suite of Haskell 1.2 
-    programs, but not so extensively tested against Haskell 1.4 programs 
-    because we don't have a comprehensive set (Donations of Haskell 1.4
-    programs to our test suite are most welcome).
+     It has been extensively tested against a large suite of Haskell 1.2 
+     programs, but not so extensively tested against Haskell 1.4 programs 
+     because we don't have a comprehensive set (Donations of Haskell 1.4
+     programs to our test suite are most welcome).

 
   * It should generate good code.
 
   * It should generate good code.

-    All the optimisations that GHC 0.29 used to do are back in, with 
-    the exception of specialisation.  It ought to be the case that
-    GHC 2.02 outperforms GHC 0.29, because it has a much better
-    handle on cross-module inlining, but there's a good chance that
-    there are performance "holes" lurking.  We have yet to make
-    a systematic comparison.  (Please send us programs where 2.02
-    does noticeably worse than 0.29.)
+     All the optimisations that GHC 0.29 used to do are back in, with 
+     the exception of specialisation.  It ought to be the case that
+     GHC 2.02 outperforms GHC 0.29, because it has a much better
+     handle on cross-module inlining, but there's a good chance that
+     there are performance "holes" lurking.  We have yet to make
+     a systematic comparison.  (Please send us programs where 2.02
+     does noticeably worse than 0.29.)

 
   * It is more expensive than it should be.
 
   * It is more expensive than it should be.

-    GHC 2.02 has received even less attention to its own performance.
-    At present it eats more space and time than GHC 0.29, especially
-    for very small programs.  We'll work on this.
+     GHC 2.02 has received even less attention to its own performance.
+     At present it eats more space and time than GHC 0.29, especially
+     for very small programs.  We're working on this.

 
   * A couple of Haskell 1.4 features are incompletely supported,
     notably polymorphic strictness annotations, and Unicode.
 
   * A couple of Haskell 1.4 features are incompletely supported,
     notably polymorphic strictness annotations, and Unicode.

@@ -54,10 +54,11 @@ include:
     it expands into tons of "ccall" boilerplate that marshalls
     your arguments to and from C.
 
     it expands into tons of "ccall" boilerplate that marshalls
     your arguments to and from C.
 

-  * GHC 2.02 is available for Windows NT.  From now on, Windows NT
-    will be a fully supported platform for GHC.
+  * GHC 2.02 is available for Win32 platforms.  From now on, Win32
+    (Windows NT and Windows 95) will be a fully supported platform
+    for GHC.

 
 

-  * GHC 2.02 supports full cross moudule inlining.  Unlike 0.29 and
+  * GHC 2.02 supports full cross module inlining.  Unlike 0.29 and

     its predecessors, inlining can happen even if the inlined body
     mentions a function or type that is not itself exported.  This is
     one place Haskell 1.4's new module system really pays off.
     its predecessors, inlining can happen even if the inlined body
     mentions a function or type that is not itself exported.  This is
     one place Haskell 1.4's new module system really pays off.

@@ -80,15 +81,15 @@ To run this release, you need a machine with 16+MB memory (more if
 building from sources), GNU C (`gcc'), and `perl'.  We have seen GHC
 2.01 work on these platforms: alpha-dec-osf2, hppa1.1-hp-hpux9,
 sparc-sun-{sunos4,solaris2}, mips-sgi-irix5, and
 building from sources), GNU C (`gcc'), and `perl'.  We have seen GHC
 2.01 work on these platforms: alpha-dec-osf2, hppa1.1-hp-hpux9,
 sparc-sun-{sunos4,solaris2}, mips-sgi-irix5, and

-i386-unknown-{linux,solaris2,freebsd}.  Similar platforms should work
-with minimal hacking effort.  The installer's guide give a full
-what-ports-work report.
+i386-unknown-{linux,solaris2,freebsd,cygwin32}.  Similar platforms
+should work with minimal hacking effort.  The installer's guide give a
+complete run-down of what-ports-work.

 
 Binaries are distributed in `bundles', e.g. a "profiling bundle" or a
 "concurrency bundle" for your platform.  Just grab the ones you need.
 
 
 Binaries are distributed in `bundles', e.g. a "profiling bundle" or a
 "concurrency bundle" for your platform.  Just grab the ones you need.
 

-Once you have the distribution, please follow the pointers in
-ghc/README to find all of the documentation about this release.  NB:
+Once you have the distribution, please follow the pointers in the
+README file to find all of the documentation about this release.  NB:

 preserve modification times when un-tarring the files (no `m' option
 for tar, please)!
 
 preserve modification times when un-tarring the files (no `m' option
 for tar, please)!
 

@@ -125,6 +126,9 @@ computing/programming/languages/haskell/glasgow.
 These are the available files (.gz files are gzipped) -- some are `on
 demand', ask if you don't see them:
 
 These are the available files (.gz files are gzipped) -- some are `on
 demand', ask if you don't see them:
 

+README.html             A WWW `front-end' to the contents of the glasgow
+                       directory.
+

 ghc-2.02-src.tar.gz    The source distribution; about 3MB.
 
 ghc-2.02.ANNOUNCE      This file.
 ghc-2.02-src.tar.gz    The source distribution; about 3MB.
 
 ghc-2.02.ANNOUNCE      This file.

@@ -176,3 +180,4 @@ ghc-2.02-hi-files-<blah>.tar.gz Sometimes it's more convenient to
                        use a different set of interface files than
                        the ones in *-src.tar.gz.  (The installation
                        guide will advise you of this.)
                        use a different set of interface files than
                        the ones in *-src.tar.gz.  (The installation
                        guide will advise you of this.)

+