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Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:11:15 -0800
From: Tim Kientzle <kientzle@freebsd.org>
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Cc: Peter Jeremy <peterjeremy@optushome.com.au>, freebsd-current@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Alternatives to gcc (was Re: gcc 4.3: when will it
 become	standard compiler?)
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>>... 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