A file that defines a Cabal package should be officially called «Cabal Pact».

## problem

It is awkward that there is no officially recognized name for files `*.cabal` that define a Cabal package. Some other languages call them _«manifest»_. I too was inclined to call them so, for the lack of a better pick. But the word _«manifest»_ is flat, boring, it names a phenomenon that is only short lived.

> manifest
> 3 : a list of passengers or an invoice of cargo for a vehicle (such as a ship or plane)
>
> — [The Merriam-Webster dictionary.](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manifest)

## solution

We have already taken the word _«cabal»_. With a Cabal, one signs a Pact. It also has a fitting connotation of eternal commitment: if you specify version bounds thoroughly, your package will build now and forever, and if you put it to Hackage, you cannot take it back.

With the Haskell Cabal, one Signs a Pact in Blood.