Gentoo keeps a "stable" (read: old) version of `cabal-install` in the Portage
tree, so you'll want to use `cabal-install` to install the more recent
version. Note that the backslashes are intentional.
```bash
$ \cabal update # The backslashes
$ \cabal install cabal-install # are intentional
```
You have now installed cabal on a global scale with portage, and locally in your
home directory with `cabal-install`. The next step is to make sure that when you
run `cabal` in a terminal, your shell will run the up-to-date version in your
home directory. You will want to add the following lines to your shell's
configuration file:
```bash
PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.cabal/bin
alias cabal="$HOME/.cabal/bin/cabal"
```
If you don't know what your shell is, more than likely, your shell is Bash. If
you use Bash, the file you will edit is `~/.bashrc`. If you use Z-shell, the
file is `~/.zshrc`. You can run the following command to find out what your
shell is.
```bash
echo $SHELL | xargs basename
```
I use zsh, so that command outputs `zsh` when I run it.
Once you do all of that, you'll want to install the additional tools `alex` and `happy`.
```bash
$ cabal install alex happy
```
Congratulations! You now have a working Haskell installation!
## Mac OS X
### 10.9
Install the [GHC for Mac OS X](http://ghcformacosx.github.io/) app, which
includes GHC and Cabal. It provides instructions on how to add GHC and Cabal to
your path after you've dropped the `.app` somewhere.
### 10.6-10.8
Do the binary distribution install described below with [this tarball](https://www.haskell.org/platform/download/2014.2.0.0/ghc-7.8.3-x86_64-apple-darwin-r3.tar.bz2).
## Windows
- The [windows minimal GHC installer](http://neilmitchell.blogspot.com/2014/12/beta-testing-windows-minimal-ghc.html)
is able to compile `network` et al. Technically in beta but should work for
the purposes of anybody reading this guide.
Don't forget to run the installer as administrator as it will want to install in
your Program Files.
## Other Linux users
Download the latest binary distributions for cabal and ghc:
Install GHC and Cabal from your package system, then add `~/.cabal/bin` to your `$PATH`. Finally update `cabal` and install the additional tools `alex` and `happy`.
