I thought the OP simply did not realize that a C compiler is necessary to build the gcc! I think the OP might find that other packages that are required might also be missing in a CD-sized distribution, and hopefully this project's Prerequisites page is up-to-date and inclusive enough. http://gcc.gnu.org/install/prerequisites.html (it does mention that a C compiler is necessary, and gives some more detail about which type of C compiler, I see) Indeed though I'm not really a newbie anymore to the variosu distributions, having used several, I still find it sometimes confusing to figure out what the name of the PACKAGE that contains a certain program or utility actually is, especailly when several utilities are rolled into one package (like "build-essential"). But, most distros have some sort of package searching web utility. Debian and friends (no doubt including Ubuntu) have an 'apt-get build-dep' and, probably, issuing (as root or via sudo) 'apt-get build-essential' and 'apt-get build-dep gcc' should pull all the necessary tools to build the version of gcc that is included in the distro. If these dependencies differ between that version and the one the user is actually trying to build, then the user must address these differences. I've been using plain Debian but also pure:dyne (debian-derived cd or usb live distro for music and visual art) and indeed gcc got left off that one though it is nto clear to me if that was intentional or not! ( a recent pre-release had a BROKEN gcc due to incomplete or incorrect dependency specifications, for example) > -----Original Message----- > From: Andrew Haley [mailto:aph@xxxxxxxxxx] > Sent: 09 March 2009 18:06 > To: dan hitt > Cc: Atwood, Robert C; e-karim; gcc-help@xxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: Re: installing GCC > > dan hitt wrote: > > Hi Robert, > > > > I think the issue is that for somebody new to ubuntu, it is > > very, very surprising that there's no compiler. It certainly > > was to me. > > > > And the answer to your reasonable question can be either: > > (1) that whoever is doing it does not yet know the > > command sequence > > sudo apt-get install gcc > > Or (for newbies, OK) > > System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager > > Click the package "gcc" and "mark for installation". > > > (2) that whoever is doing it has a lousy internet connection, so > > that these apt-get commands take so long they are not really > > feasible. > > > > (And even though this is getting afield from gcc, ubuntu is free > > software, and it is popular, so it comes up.) > > Yeah, and Ubuntu comes as standard with a very cut-down > installer that'll > fit on a CDR, so you have to install most packages > afterwards. At least, > it's only a CD image that I see on their getubuntu page. > > Andrew. >
