cabal-install-1.16.0.2 needs ar in stdenv to work normally about cabal2nix HOT 4 CLOSED

I don't really understand what the bug is, in your opinion.

from cabal2nix.

I would call it unexpected behavior, from a native point of view, over a bug.

After running nix-env -iA nixos.pkgs.haskellPackages.cabalInstall, I expected to be able to run normal cabal install <package>, cabal build, ect commands. Instead it failed complaining about a lack of ar. I do not remember having this problem when installing cabal on Ubuntu through nix or on my mac and I believe this is what made it stand out to me.

It may be that the best solution is to make sure it is documented somewhere that a the above environment is needed to use cabal normally.

from cabal2nix.

Cabal-install searches for numerous binaries at run-time -- not just ar, but also haddock, alex, and even GHC. The versions of those tools that are found in $PATH determine the nature of the build cabali-install is going to do, so this is a choice that the user/developer must make somewhat consciously. On some platforms, like Ubuntu, there is just one version of each of those tools available. That makes it simple to provide a simple default installation, because there is nothing to choose! With Nix, however, the situation is different, because we have almost a dozen different versions of the GHC development environment available, which can be installed simultaneously on the same machine. In that setup, it's your responsibility to ensure that the development environment is sane -- Nix cannot do that for you the same way Ubuntu can.

Generally speaking, developers working on Nix probably want to install 'stdenv' into their profile.

from cabal2nix.

Thank you for the explanation, I still want a wrapped cabal but it should probably not happen at the cabal2nix level. Give that I have added some notes to the Haskell wiki page on nixos.org/wiki.

from cabal2nix.