Sponsoring the Haskell Foundation
by @stevenxl on April 28, 2022
Freckle is now a proud sponsor of the Haskell Foundation. 🎉 🥳
If you have been following this tech blog, it is no secret that Freckle relies heavily on Haskell. The Yesod Web Framework powers our API. Our background jobs infrastructure is written in Haskell. We’ve even written a homespun CMS (of sorts) in the language which, crucially, allows us to ingest, validate, and transform the educational content written by our Curriculum team and subsequently practiced by students.
I mention all of this in order to illustrate that, in the long term, Freckle’s fortunes are closely tied to that of Haskell and its community. If the language were to stagnate, it would extract a heavy cost on Freckle itself. Conversely, if the Haskell Foundation succeeds, then we can expect a more vibrant Haskell community. Better educational resources; more time and money to iron out warts in the language or foundational libraries; maybe even a faster compiler! But what really excites us at Freckle is that a growing and diverse Haskell community will bring with it new ideas, perspectives and, hopefully, better ways of doing things. Freckle’s sponsorship of the Haskell Foundation represents an investment in that future community.
Of course, there are some tangible benefits in the present, primarily in regards to hiring and recruiting. (Speaking of which, at the time of writing, we are looking for a Staff Software Engineer). For one, our logo will be placed on the Haskell Foundation’s website and other marketing material. This will expand our reach and brand awareness within the Haskell community. Next time someone starts looking for a Haskell position, our name might pop into their heads. Our sponsorship is also an easy way to show our commitment to Haskell - I guess too many Haskellers have been lured into a job with the promise of writing Haskell, only to end up on the dynamically-typed end of things.
Let me end this wishing the Haskell Foundation the best of luck on their mission to “[broaden] the adoption of Haskell, by supporting its ecosystem of tools, libraries, education, and research.” Your success is our success, and we are proud to be along for the ride.