Colony CD 5

[drosky]

"Ubuntu falls short in the development category."



I agree, but I would propose a compromise based on the Fedora

installation model, with which I'm the most familiar since

I've just begun experimenting with Ubuntu.  Like Ubuntu, the 

Fedora installer does not install much development stuff by 

default (although it probably does install

gcc), but there are several broad categories of devel

tools and packages where you can install a ton of development 

stuff by checking off a few check boxes.



I understand that Ubuntu is trying to keep the distro install

to a single CD, but why not have a few categories in the

"add/remove applications" utility that installs a broad range

of development packages at once.  For example (once again

from the Fedora install, which is what I have the most 

experience with), with a few clicks, you can install the

following categories of dev tools and devel packages:



- general development

- X development

- GNOME development

- KDE development



By selecting those categories, you get dozens of the most

common dev tools and "devel" packages installed in one

fell swoop.



Ubuntu does have a "build-essentials" package, but it installs

only 6 or 7 of the most basic packages, including gcc and g++.

Correct me if I missed it, but as far as I can tell, all other dev

packages must be individually installed.  Currently, the programming

section of the add/remove programs utility has mainly high-level

tools like IDE's and editors.



Despite the above (hopefully constructive) criticism, I would like

to give the Ubuntu team Kudos for putting together a solid and

super-popular distro in such a short time.



Regards,

Dave


-- 
drosky