Re: Why does Debian not include POSIX-specified commands like bc and ed by default?
On Sat 12 Sep 2020 at 07:41:19 (-0500), Nate Bargmann wrote:
> * On 2020 12 Sep 02:06 -0500, Lone Learner wrote:
> > POSIX.1-2001 Utilities[1] and POSIX.1-2008 Utilities[2] both list the
> > commands "bc" and "ed" to be part of POSIX.
> >
> > Yet, in a brand new Debian installation (version 10 for example),
> > these commands are missing by default:
> >
> > […]
> >
> > Why does Debian not include these commands by default?
>
> It's likely because the focus of the Debian Project is not that of
> shipping a strict POSIX compliant system out of the box.
>
> > Of course, I can install them with "apt-get" and I did that.
> >
> > apt-get install bc ed
>
> I believe that 'apt' is preferred over "apt-get" these days. Simple
> "apt" works well for me.
Some might prefer it for interactive use, but apt-get has a more
stable command line interface, so is better for scripting when,
say, installing all one's preferred packages on a new system.
Cheers,
David.
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