Today's article is for those folks who have ever wondered what's inside a .deb package...

[osprey]

wizardfromoz wrote about binutils not being included in build-essential:

It is its own package.

I guess what is meant here is that it's a standalone package.

Notwithstanding that fact, it probably worth noting that all the other items listed in post #12 are also standalone packages, and that the package "build-essential" is not so much similarly a singular package, but rather a "metapackage", which means the term "build-essential" is referring to a collection of standalone packages. In its own words:

This package (build-essential) contains an informational list of packages which are considered essential for building Debian packages. This package also depends on the packages on that list, to make it easy to have the build-essential packages installed.

I can see a case for including binutils in the build-essential metapackage but the debian maintainer has his/her own reasons I guess for their decision.

 

[KGIII]

I can see a case for including binutils in the build-essential metapackage but the debian maintainer has his/her own reasons I guess for their decision.

I don't see why not. Though it doesn't contain much in the way of tools I use regularly.

Binutils - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation

www.gnu.org

It's not like it is a large package. Maybe they just consider it cruft because of how seldom those tools are used by ordinary (I don't really prefer that term) Linux users, perhaps especially desktop users?

I suspect that most folks curious about what's inside a .deb file are just gonna use file-roller or whatever they have installed by default.

 

[Deleted member 147986]

I can now confirm that it's installed on three of my devices.

I have zero recollection of installing it, not even once. I have no clue how it ended up installed, other than being quite certain that it was done by me.

But, what are the odds of doing so at least three times and not remembering?

Mushrooms. You might have not remembered that tea, but you enjoyed it.

 

[KGIII]

Mushrooms. You might have not remembered that tea, but you enjoyed it.

You could be right but I usually remember that! (Man, it has been a while.)

They're now legal in at least one state. I believe they'll be legal here soon.

 

[Deleted member 147986]

Mushrooms used to be legal in the Netherlands for a long time until public tourist death(s?) happened. A lot of these drugs come with a lot of caveats of when and/or where to use them. Be responsible and don't cause harm to other people.

 

[KGIII]

Be responsible and don't cause harm to other people.

Always am and never have. I like to experience an altered state now and then, but I sure as heck don't want to live there.

I drink wine regularly, but you'd be surprised how infrequent it is that I drink enough to be over 0.08 BAC.

I don't like to be in a state where I can't react to my surroundings in a reasonable manner. Also, it's amazing how people think reality is what they see in the movies. It's nothing of the sort.

It's a bit of an adult topic so I am going to bow out now. Feel free to PM me for more, but we are a PG site and I am not above the rules. Then again, we do discuss alcohol with some regularity - but still...

I'm more than happy to carry on this discussion in a PM.

 

[Deleted member 147986]

No need, don't want to derail the topic more than I already have. But next time you're over here I'll buy you a beer.