Debian 'build-essential' on installation media.
Hello,
I have several machines that require a standard build environment after installation in order to build device drivers, such as NIC and WIFI drivers. These drivers or modules are not included in the free/non-free images (eg. Broadcom) or included as kernel modules, I currently have the source for these saved on a USB stick.
With the standard DVD image, the ‘build-essential’ meta package is not included with the default install and relies on an internet connection to install the packages required to build drivers. If one does not have access to a wired network and you cannot build wifi drivers with the base install media, then you have no way of downloading the build-essential package. In short - If you rely on the ‘build-essential’ meta package to build your NIC/WIFI drivers then you will never get on the internet with the packages included on the standard install images. There is no way to build drivers without an internet connection.
Would it be possible to include the 'build-essential’ meta package (along with dkms) on the standard DVD installation image, or have a spin of the image with the build tools included. This is quite common on other distributions, such as Centos and Fedora and I cannot understand how this meta package has been omitted from the standard install media.
Regards and with thanks,
Jacques
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