Installing a compiler by default

[Brent Larsen]

Christofer C. Bell wrote:
>> The target audience are folks that want a "useful Linux 
>> desktop environment that Just Works(tm)".  This audience
>> is not a developer community and does not need a 
>> compiler.  The target audience of a compiler is the 
>> development community.  These folks should not need hand 
>> holding to the same degree as end users.

not having a compiler is a frequent problem on the forums, and most of these guys are not developers, by any stretch.

a compiler is for installing unsupported software, not just for developers.  I dont know the first thing about writing linux software, and dapper is the first version of ubuntu I have ever installed that didnt end up needing me to compile something or other before I was done getting things just right.

I'm going to be just fine if a decision is made to continue leaving it out.  I love ubuntu and it was never on there before.  But, if you are pushing for "Just works" then certainly a compiler that just works is a desirable thing.

no matter who develops a piece of software for linux, tar.gz is still the only real standard for packages.  Sooner or later, developer or not, pretty much everyone is going to benefit.

-brent