[Agda] Windows/Linux versions of Agda

[Aaron Stump]

Dear Agda list,

I am an enthusiastic new Agda user, and I'm starting to try using Agda in
my classes at U. Iowa.  This fall I am trying it out for a small grad
class, but in the spring, I am currently planning to try using it for a
class of about 90 undergraduates.  For this, a few things would be really
helpful, which I thought I would mention.  They mostly concern the Windows
installer, as most undergrads (and even grads) are using Windows.

1. It would be very nice if the Windows installer was kept up to date with
the Linux distribution.  Windows is on 2.3.0.1 right now, while Linux is
2.3.2.1.  In order to make sure files I write on my Linux laptop are usable
under Agda 2.3.0.1, I had to install that version of Agda on my laptop.
 This took about a day to do (with my light knowledge of the Haskell
platform), because I had to install an old version of the Haskell platform
(haskell-platform-2012.4.0.0), which in turn required an older ghc (7.4.2).
 I could not just do "cabal install Agda-2.3.0.1", as this requires an
older version of the base library than the current Haskell platform
provides.  So I installed these old versions in parallel with the default
current versions for Ubuntu 12.04, which I had installed already.  This was
quite a hassle.  Even just knowing which old versions of ghc/Haskell
platform are needed would have saved me time.

2. The Agda wiki has helpful notes telling Windows users they may need to
download some additional fonts in order to get certain Unicode characters
(like \[[, for example).  It would be really nice if the Windows installer
came with DejaVuSans (one of those fonts), for example, pre-loaded as the
default.  Otherwise, students would have to perform this as a separate
installation step (one more thing to go wrong).

Thanks,
Aaron
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chalmers.se/pipermail/agda/attachments/20130902/7ef92713/attachment.html