static linking silently fails in ghc

On OS X, ghci uses dylib versions of C libraries when linking, and ghc uses static versions of those libraries.

However, while ghci will give an (informative) error message when dynamic linking fails, ghc gives no error message, and the resultant programs crash in an uninformative way.

this lack of consistent error messages is also likely why GTK has been difficult to install and get working on OS X in recent time, precisely because of this issue, see discussion here http://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/or0ro/easy_steps_to_install_gtk_and_use_all_its/ of recent efforts in successfully installing gtk on mac

Trac metadata

Trac field	Value
Version	7.2.2
Type	Bug
TypeOfFailure	OtherFailure
Priority	normal
Resolution	Unresolved
Component	Compiler
Test case
Differential revisions
BlockedBy
Related
Blocking
CC
Operating system
Architecture