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A generation of hackers may have started with BASIC on Apple IIs, but getting a C compiler on a modern Mac is a 4GB XCode download

The size of Xcode annoys me too, since I never use it. So I've been using this GCC install on my Mac: https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer

Couple hundred megabytes. It's still a lot larger than Orca/C was on my Apple IIgs (1 or 2 3.5" floppies?), but then again, compilers come with a lot of libraries these days.



Does it bother you for rational or irrational reasons? It bothers me for irrational reasons - it feels like it's too much, but really, I'm using about 65 GB of a 500 GB disk. So I tell myself to ignore that feeling and just install Xcode because it's the most efficient means of getting developer tools on my Mac.


Rational. I only have a 120GB SSD. At the moment I'm not even able to keep any music on it, it's so filled up with work stuff.


Everyone needs to keep in mind that the latest xcode is only about 1.5GB these days... they really did trim it down with 4.2


I used osx gcc installer for a bit, but had to go back to xcode when I needed things like opengl headers, which are not otherwise available. Frustrating, for sure.


Off topic, but you must be the first person I've ever encountered who also used ORCA/C.


I'm going to guess this probably isn't the first time we crossed paths then :)




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