Version 5.02.3 (released 8 April 2002)

The 5 series features some major changes over the 4 series: in short, an interactive development environment, and significantly faster compilation for large programs. 5.02.3 is the latest stable member of this series, with minor bug fixes for the previous stable release, 5.02.2.

Online Docs

Downloads

Notes:

  • The source distribution needs an installed GHC 4.08.X or 5.X to build; if you've not got that, get an HC source dist. It's easier to build from sources than from HC files, if you possibly can.

  • On Linux, it's generally preferable to install from a .rpm or .deb package than from the binary .tar.bz2, because .rpm/.deb packaging ensures you have the correct supporting libraries on your machine prior to installing GHC. You need the following libraries to use the binary tar: libreadline.so.3, libncurses.so.4, libtermcap.so.2. These come as standard on RedHat 6.2, at least.

  • On Solaris, you'll need libcurses.so.1, which resolves to /usr/lib/libcurses.so.1 on our build machine. You should ensure you have this before you start, since without it GHC won't work at all, and you'll just wind up frustrated.

Available downloads are:

Downloads for 5.02.2 (the previous stable version)

Available downloads are:
  • Source: .tar.bz2 (3.9 M).

  • RPMs for RedHat Linux 7.2 (i386, glibc 2.2.4) from Manuel Chakravarty: base RPM, profiling libraries RPM, and documentation RPM.

  • RPMs for RedHat Linux 6.2 (i386, glibc 2.1.3) from Tom Moertel: base RPM, profiling libraries RPM, and documentation RPM.

  • RPMs for SuSE Linux 7.3 (i386, glibc 2.2) from Ralf Hinze: base and docs RPM, and profiling libraries RPM.

  • RPMs for Mandrake (Cooker) (thanks to Pixel): binary RPM, source RPM.

  • Debian GNU/Linux users: you should be able to say apt-get install ghc5 to install GHC from your nearest mirror. Packages can also be found in Debian's testing and unstable distributions.

  • If none of the above Linux i386 RPMs are good for you, try this: Intel Linux/glibc 2.1 (a complete build, including interactive system, profiling libraries and complete documentation): .tar.bz2 (13.6 M). This build was done on a RedHat 6.2 box.

  • Binary tar for SPARC Solaris 2.7 (complete build, as above): .tar.bz2 (18.3 M).

  • Binary tar for Alpha running OSF 3.X, from Ken Shan: (the interactive system, GHCi, is not available on this platform, unfortunately): .tar.bz2 (38.4 M).

  • Windows Installer for Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP, prepared by Sigbjorn Finne (complete build, as above): ghc-502-2.msi (23.3 Mb).

    This installer relies on the Windows Installer runtime to operate. If, after having downloaded the above file, double-clicking on the MSI file doesn't start up the installer, the likely cause is that you don't have the Windows Installer runtime installed on your machine. You can download it from Microsoft:

    Install the appropriate version, then double-click again on the MSI file.

  • FreeBSD/x86 packages:

    • FreeBSD users can install ghc by saying pkg-add -r ghc, or get the package directly from here for 4.x-STABLE (install with pkg_add). The port is in the main ports tree, and packages should also be available from your nearset mirror.
    • FreeBSD .tar.gz package (use if you need to install GHC somewhere other than /usr/local).