The "fptools" build system has been used for many years in the cross-platform GHC compiler. It is a make-based system which is capable of a wide variety of installation tasks, compilation tasks, and system configuration tasks. Currently, it is not entirely generic across Haskell Implementations, and does not yet deal with some of the package registration issues mentioned above.
At Yale, another system is being developed. It is also a make-based system and works reasonably well on various platforms (Unix, Linux, Windows) and Haskell Implementations. It also does not yet deal with all of the package registration issues mentioned above.
Both tools can benefit from a standard packaging system.
Because make has been used for many
years, it is expected that these systems will be able to do more than
the initial release of the Distribution module. The Setup script will be
designed with this in mind, and should be able to wrap these tools in
order to provide a common interface for users and for layered
tools.