Installing Haskell packages on Mac

Question

I can't seem to get a few Haskell packages to install on my Mac (10.6.8). I first tried Happstack and it failed and then I tried Snap.

Sometimes when I run ghci I get a segmentation fault.

Other times it works and goes like this:

GHCi, version 7.4.2: http://www.haskell.org/ghc/  :? for help Loading package ghc-prim ... linking ... done. Loading package integer-gmp ... linking ... done. Loading package base ... linking ... done. Prelude> 

When trying to get Snap:

.... .... .... Loading package vector-0.10.0.1 ... linking ... done. Loading package zlib-0.5.4.0 ... linking ... done. Loading package zlib-bindings-0.1.1.3 ... linking ... done. Loading package zlib-enum-0.2.3 ... linking ... done. Loading package snap-core-0.9.3.1 ... linking ... done. Loading package snap-server-0.9.3.3 ... linking ... done. Loading package directory-tree-0.11.0 ... linking ... done. cabal: Error: some packages failed to install: snap-0.11.2 failed during the building phase. The exception was: ExitFailure 11 

I have seen this problem a few times but nothing really solved it for me. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Updated May 22, 2021

Have you tried using homebrew? It handles the dependencies for you.

Using homebrew, you can use the brew command to install ghc and cabal-install.

$ brew install ghc cabal-install ==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/ghc/manifests/8.10.4 ######################################################################## 100.0% ==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/ghc/blobs/sha256:965f94c14b56e3db7b239860e0a1d577be0b27caf8adb6212710a7430ce723d3 ==> Downloading from https://pkg-containers.githubusercontent.com/ghcr1/blobs/sha256:965f94c14b56e3db7b239860e0a1d577be0b27caf8adb6212710a7430ce723d3?se=2021-05-23T05%3A15%3A00Z&sig=fkH7sUY44VCLV8hI%2BtZT%2B ######################################################################## 100.0% ==> Pouring ghc--8.10.4.big_sur.bottle.tar.gz ==> /usr/local/Cellar/ghc/8.10.4/bin/ghc-pkg recache 🍺  /usr/local/Cellar/ghc/8.10.4: 6,907 files, 1.5GB ==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/cabal-install/manifests/3.4.0.0 ######################################################################## 100.0% ==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/cabal-install/blobs/sha256:2c0c5cc90d4739515721557f8e9c02783b3b5f106033c5c09241657b4418b21f ==> Downloading from https://pkg-containers.githubusercontent.com/ghcr1/blobs/sha256:2c0c5cc90d4739515721557f8e9c02783b3b5f106033c5c09241657b4418b21f?se=2021-05-23T05%3A15%3A00Z&sig=O7ylxHgq42YVADlzTacdRfY7W ######################################################################## 100.0% ==> Pouring cabal-install--3.4.0.0.big_sur.bottle.tar.gz 🍺  /usr/local/Cellar/cabal-install/3.4.0.0: 7 files, 39.6MB 

Once installed, you should be able to run:

$ ghc ghc: no input files Usage: For basic information, try the `--help' option. 

As well as the Haskell interpreter, ghci:

$ ghci GHCi, version 8.10.4: https://www.haskell.org/ghc/  :? for help Prelude> 

Hope this helps!