Installing a compiler by default

[Micah J. Cowan]

On Thu, Jun 08, 2006 at 09:44:17AM -0700, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> I would like to propose that, beginning in Edgy, Ubuntu desktop systems
> (both live and installed) should, by default, include the set of packages
> necessary to compile simple C programs and Linux kernel modules.

Alright, I'll throw mine in, too.

First off, I'm a software developer. Software development in Unix-like
environments is a big part of what gets me off in Unix, so of /course/
my desktop environment will certainly include essential build-tools. I
/was/ surprised to see gcc missing when I tooled around on Ubuntu for
the first time, and installing it (individually: I was unaware of
build-essentials' existence until pretty much this thread, though I'm
sure I ran across it in documentation on dependencies in source
packages). Even so, installing it individually was barely more
painstaking than isntalling build-essentials: everytime I wanted
something I didn't have, a quick apt-get solved the problem. Not to
mention that once I started to get settled in, I immediately scoured
Synaptic for stuff I'd want later.

I'm confident that a relatively high percentage of contributors to this
list (being a developer's forum) also depend to a great deal on these
build tools being available to them, so this list is very unlikely to
represent a general sample of the Ubuntu-using population.

Obviously, from a purely personal enjoyment standpoint, I'd rather that
build-essentials be installed by default. But, as they are available on
the disc, requiring only a quick apt-get--and are now installed to the
cache on the hard disk, as I understand it from other
conversations--then I should hardly consider a quick apt-get (or even a
few, for those of us unaware of build-essentials) to be even a mild
irritation. It's something more than that if you're new to Debian
package management, but the user will need to learn his way around that
shortly anyway, why not start now?

I do think that a very significant percentage of Ubuntu users will want
gcc on their system. I think it's possible a /majority/ won't care, but
the others /will/ be a significant chunk. I would certainly be a little
bit happier with it just being there on a fresh install.

However, I think that as there do not seem to be strong, clear reasons
for having it installed by default, and as it is trivial to install,
without need for any network connection, then it does not seem that the
burden of proof that is required for those who argue for change is being
fulfilled.

-- 
Micah J. Cowan
Programmer, musician, typesetting enthusiast, gamer...
http://micah.cowan.name/