Jeremy C. Reed [Tue, Mar 09, 2004 at 08:44:45PM -0800]:
> Who uses Linux here?

I do.

> Do all Linux systems include a "yacc" called yacc?
> 
> Do all Linux systems include a "lex" called "lex"?
> 
> Do all Linux systems come with "patch" by default?
> 
> Do all Linux systems come with GNU "make" by default?
> 
> Do all Linux systems come with a GNU "awk" by default?

I think the answer is "no" for all those quesions. Debian is a distro good
enough/widely used enough, which can come without such packages. Yes, I see
strong point in using pkgsrc on Debian - you could use debian-stable as your
minimal basesystem, but in case you don't like a bit outdated software
available for this distribution, you could use pkgsrc, as it is a bit easier
(well, at least for me) to use.

> The above also ensures that we have a good version of the software
> available.

I think we need to work out a serious policy about this.

Post-bootstrap script could detect a distribution and install needed
software using distribution-specific installation mechanism, for example.

Or: binary bootstrap packages could include at least gcc for some operating
systems.

Or: on non-standarized operating systems (like Linux flavours) we could not
really care about what the basesystem contains (thus accept the changes you
give) and use pkgsrc packages. This would mean less trouble for pkgsrc
developers on such platforms.

Ideas?

Take care,
-- 
Michal Pasternak :: http://pasternak.w.lub.pl :: http://winsrc.sf.net
"There's so much comedy on television. Does that cause comedy in the streets?" 
	-- Dick Cavett