Alternatives to gcc (was Re: gcc 4.3: when will it become standard compiler?)

[Peter Ross]

Hi Tim,

AFAIK you _need_ a C compiler to keep your system secure, to apply 
security patches.

E.g. http://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-09:02.openssl.asc
 
..
make obj && make depend && make && make install
.. 

Of course there are build-boxes etc. so you only need a compiler once. But 
still, you need a box to compile it.

Regards
Peter

On Sun, 11 Jan 2009, Tim Kientzle wrote:

> > > ... the FreeBSD base system should come complete with the
> > > necessary tools to build/install itself.
> > 
> > OK, I quite agree it's not the same as perl: C is not something we cannot
> > depend on.
> 
> You can easily install FreeBSD without a C compiler
> or other build tools.
> 
> There's very little reason to do so in a typical
> desktop/server installation, which is why this
> capability is used almost exclusively by people
> building embedded systems or special-use
> CD-bootable systems.  But even in those
> environments, this concern is fading:
> multi-gigabyte flash parts and bootable DVDs
> and USB keys are becoming pretty common.
> 
> Tim
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