How to install GHCJS?

[hasufell]

I'm looking at the readme and it provides no installation instructions.

https://github.com/ghcjs/ghcjs#quick-start---developing-ghcjs seems to talk about "Developing GHCJS".

[jneira]

I think you will get more info about ghcjs in https://github.com/dmjio/miso#quick-start than in this repo

[hasufell]

@jneira I'm not interested in using nix.

Also see: https://gitlab.haskell.org/haskell/ghcup-hs/-/issues/275

[jneira]

There are some outdated instructions using... you guess? stack! here: https://github.com/ghcjs/ghcjs/wiki/GHCJS-User-Guide
I installed it from source in windows using its ghc make build system (copied from ghc) or cabal

[Mikolaj]

I installed [edit: on Ubuntu] with cabal new-build when GHC 8.6.5 was the highest version supported. The instructions in README were enough, with a hicup or two.

[hasufell]

So there are no bindists?

[Mikolaj]

I don't think there are any.

[jneira]

I had a little hiccup installing it in windows too: #750

[Mikolaj]

This is closest to bindist that it ever was, I think: https://launchpad.net/~hvr/+archive/ubuntu/ghcjs

[hasufell]

I don't think there are any.

Why? Is something wrong with the build system?

[Mikolaj]

I don't think there are any.

Why? Is something wrong with the build system?

Not right now, it probably builds now, but there are years when nothing builds or only old GHCs do.

However, GHCJS is formally a set of libraries, one of them not on hackage. You just build them with cabal or something and that's the build system and the bindists would just be the built versions of the packages, which may presumably depend on the version of node or the webassembly compiler that has a name similar to emacs and these are not bundled. The old version @hvr built only required node, but no idea if he included it and what extra tricks were needed.

[hasufell]

Excellent, so only the ancient long gone Maya still know the ways to build a GHCJS bindist... knowledge isn't linear. Sometimes it's lost. 😭

[Mikolaj]

Moreover, we know that the tradition of the ancients worked great for them and made them happy, but even if recovered, it can't be applied to our situation (the webassembly thing and probably other changes).

[Ericson2314]

I think basically all GHCJS uses use Nix....precisely because it is best way to codify this sort of knowledge so it doesn't rot away!

Look at:

• https://github.com/input-output-hk/haskell.nix/
• https://github.com/reflex-frp/reflex-platform/

The current plan as I am told is also to upstream GHCJS so these issues go away once and for all.

[cdsmith]

For what it's worth, I'm a GHCJS user who doesn't use nix. See https://github.com/google/codeworld/blob/master/install.sh#L203 for the build process I use.

[hasufell]

I think basically all GHCJS uses use Nix

Apparently not, because users have requested GHCJS support in ghcup, which is why I'm investigating the options.

For what it's worth, I'm a GHCJS user who doesn't use nix. See https://github.com/google/codeworld/blob/master/install.sh#L203 for the build process I use.

That looks interesting.

[phadej]

I think basically all GHCJS uses use Nix

I don't. I have build my own .deb at https://github.com/phadej/ghcjs-ubuntu, i tried to document what I did, but is PITA to do. The steps take quite some time (e.g. booting the boot libraries, see https://github.com/phadej/ghcjs-ubuntu/blob/master/ghcjs-8.6/boot-bin.sh).

IMHO, ghcup installation from source is not viable in uncontrolled environment, so I'd think twice before adding support to ghcup.

[phadej]

Forgot to mention: nor GHCJS ever had any proper releases, which further adds inconvenience.