Version bound on ObjectName are too lose in OpenGL-2.6.0.1 (relevant for GHC 7.4.1 users, i.e. Ubuntu 12.04)

[iblech]

In OpenGL-2.6.0.1, the version bound on ObjectName is too loose. It says ObjectName (==1.0.*), while it should say ObjectName (==1.0.0.*). This is because genObjectNames was a method of class ObjectName only in ObjectName 1.0.0.0 (and no longer in ObjectName 1.0.1.0).

Apparently it's possible to retroactively change the dependency list in Hackage.

There is of course a bigger question: Why am I reporting this in 2015? OpenGL-2.6.0.1 was released in 2012. I don't know the deeper reason, but I can state for a fact that this version is what a (naive?) cabal install gloss just tried to install.

[svenpanne]

The real question is: Why does cabal decide to install an ancient gloss version? OpenGL 2.6.* is only possible in the range gloss-1.7.6.6 .. gloss-1.7.8.2, and those versions are several years old. Probably you have some other packages installed which force old versions.

With a Haskell Platform 7.10.2-a and a fresh sandbox, doing a cabal update followed by a cabal install gloss just installs 3 new packages, including the latest gloss:

• bmp-1.2.5.2
• gloss-rendering-1.9.3.1
• gloss-1.9.4.1

To somehow simulate what happens on your side I tried

cabal install --constraint=OpenGL==2.6.* gloss

but cabal doesn't find a build plan then. I'm a bit reluctant to change the constraint without being able to test it. Perhaps you have an old GHC, what does ghc-pkg list print for you? Does adding --constraint=ObjectName==1.0.0.* to your cabal invocation work (without any other changes)?

[iblech]

Thanks for taking your time to look into this somewhat weird issue (which will probably not affect many users)! Indeed, on the particular system on which I performed this installation, the GHC is truly ancient: 7.4.1. This is straight from the repositories of Ubuntu 12.04. Cabal and cabal-install are up-to-date, though. See below for the package list.

Temporarily moving ~/.ghc out of the way (as a brute-force method to temporarily unregister all user-installed packages) also allows to reconstruct the build plan (see below). This also shows that --constraint=ObjectName==1.0.0.* would fairly probably work, although I didn't test it.

If you want to, I can nuke ~/.ghc and ~/.cabal (to restore a pristine Ubuntu 12.04), and actually try building gloss again with the constraint.

$ ghc-pkg list
   Cabal-1.14.0
   QuickCheck-1.2.0.1
   QuickCheck-2.4.2
   X11-1.5.0.1
   X11-xft-0.3.1
   array-0.4.0.0
   base-4.5.0.0
   bin-package-db-0.0.0.0
   binary-0.5.1.0
   bytestring-0.9.2.1
   containers-0.4.2.1
   deepseq-1.3.0.0
   directory-1.1.0.2
   dlist-0.5
   extensible-exceptions-0.1.1.4
   filepath-1.3.0.0
   ghc-7.4.1
   ghc-prim-0.2.0.0
   haskell2010-1.1.0.1
   haskell98-2.0.0.1
   hoopl-3.8.7.3
   hpc-0.5.1.1
   integer-gmp-0.4.0.0
   mtl-2.0.1.0
   old-locale-1.0.0.4
   old-time-1.1.0.0
   pretty-1.1.1.0
   process-1.1.0.1
   random-1.0.1.1
   rts-1.0
   smallcheck-0.6
   syb-0.3.6
   template-haskell-2.7.0.0
   time-1.4
   transformers-0.2.2.0
   unix-2.5.1.0
   utf8-string-0.3.7
   xmonad-0.10
   xmonad-contrib-0.10
/home/iblech/.ghc/i386-linux-7.4.1/package.conf.d
   Cabal-1.22.4.0
   GLURaw-1.4.0.2
   GLUT-2.3.1.0
   HTTP-4000.2.20
   ObjectName-1.0.0.0
   ObjectName-1.0.1.1
   OpenGL-2.6.0.1
   OpenGLRaw-1.3.0.0
   StateVar-1.0.1.1
   Tensor-1.0.0.1
   binary-0.5.1.1
   bmp-1.2.3.4
   bytestring-0.10.6.0
   directory-1.2.3.1
   frpnow-0.18
   frpnow-gloss-0.12
   gloss-1.7.7.201204.1
   network-2.6.2.1
   network-uri-2.6.0.3
   parsec-3.1.9
   process-1.2.3.0
   stm-2.4.4
   text-1.2.1.3
   zlib-0.5.4.2

$ mv .ghc .ghc-bak

$ cabal --dry-run install gloss
Resolving dependencies...
In order, the following would be installed (use -v for more details):
ObjectName-1.0.1.1
OpenGLRaw-1.3.0.0
GLURaw-1.4.0.2
StateVar-1.0.1.1
Tensor-1.0.0.1
OpenGL-2.6.0.1
GLUT-2.3.1.0
bytestring-0.10.6.0
binary-0.5.1.1
bmp-1.2.3.4
gloss-1.7.7.201204.1

$ cabal --dry-run --constraint=ObjectName==1.0.0.* install gloss
Resolving dependencies...
In order, the following would be installed (use -v for more details):
ObjectName-1.0.0.0
OpenGLRaw-1.3.0.0
GLURaw-1.4.0.2
StateVar-1.0.1.1
Tensor-1.0.0.1
OpenGL-2.6.0.1
GLUT-2.3.1.0
bytestring-0.10.6.0
binary-0.5.1.1
bmp-1.2.3.4
gloss-1.7.7.201204.1

[svenpanne]

OK, and old GHC would explain things. I've updated the constraint for OpenGL-2.6.0.1 on Hackage, It would be great if you could do a cabal update && cabal install gloss and report if things work now for you.

[iblech]

Thanks! Now it works out of the box, as it should. Your efforts are very much appreciated. :-)