On Mon, 28 Jan 2002, Sam Ewalt wrote:
> On Sun, 27 Jan 2002 19:04:55 -0500 (EST), Steve <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Perl comes preinstalled on all "full" distributions.
> > Python is another very powerful language which comes
> > preinstalled on most distributions.
>
> That seems like a waste of time to me. Why should they be
> preinstalled? Since anyone with the knowledge and capability
> to use either Perl or Python would almost certainly know how
> to install them if they were wanted or needed.
Most of the rpm-based distributions have their
installation programs written in python... not to
say you need to "install" it, but most likely you've
already used it without even being aware of it.
As to perl, sure, you could do a barebones installation
that would let you leave it out, but most likely you're
going to need it for something. Let's see what happens
if I try to uninstall perl from my system:
# rpm -e perl-5.00503-10
error: removing these packages would break dependencies:
/usr/bin/perl is needed by rpm-build-3.0.5-9.6x
/usr/bin/perl is needed by autoconf-2.13-5
/usr/bin/perl is needed by automake-1.4-6
/usr/bin/perl is needed by bind-8.2.2_P5-9
/usr/bin/perl is needed by cvs-1.10.7-7
/usr/bin/perl is needed by fvwm2-2.2.4-4
/usr/bin/perl is needed by groff-perl-1.15-8
/usr/bin/perl is needed by helptool-2.4-9
/usr/bin/perl is needed by ncurses-devel-5.0-11
/usr/bin/perl is needed by sharutils-4.2.1-2
/usr/bin/perl is needed by svgalib-1.4.1-2
/usr/bin/perl is needed by ucd-snmp-4.1.1-2
/usr/bin/perl is needed by mc-4.5.42-10
/usr/bin/perl is needed by xephem-3.2.3-2
/usr/bin/perl is needed by MySQL-3.22.25-1
/usr/bin/perl is needed by MySQL-client-3.22.25-1
/usr/bin/perl is needed by DBI-1.13-1
/usr/bin/perl is needed by perl-DBI-1.16-1
/usr/bin/perl is needed by perl-DBD-MySQL-1.2216-2
/usr/bin/perl is needed by perl-Tk-800.022.RedHat6.2-12
/usr/bin/perl is needed by snort-1.6.3-0
/usr/bin/perl is needed by wu-ftpd-2.6.1-0.6x.21
/usr/bin/perl is needed by sgml-tools-1.0.9-6.2
/usr/bin/perl is needed by apache-1.3.22-0.6
/usr/bin/perl is needed by apache-manual-1.3.22-0.6
/usr/bin/perl is needed by leafnode-1.9.19-2mdk
The way rpms are built, it's often just the installation
script which requires perl. I suppose you could do without
perl by manually installing everything, or by installing
perl, then installing the package with the perl install
script, and then uninstalling perl (using rpm's --force
parameter). Some programs are actually written in perl
though, and if you want to run those, of course, you
need perl.
> Stuff like that should just be left out. There are lots of
> included extras like that with most Linux distributions.
>
> Nothing but clutter for most people.
One man's "clutter" is another man's necessity.
That's why there are Linux distributions that fit on
two floppies, Linux distributions that fit on five
floppies, or fill just 80MB of a CD, or fill 5 CDs.
Like weeds, "clutter" is the stuff you don't want
there. Don't install it, or take it out.
- Steve
