Why are the source repositories enabled by default?

[user1397]

I did a bit of searching, and couldn't find information about this. Is there a particular reason why it's the default? I mean, when would a regular user need to download the source code of a program, in 99.99% of usage cases?

Just doesn't add up...

[TheFu]

GNU license terms.
This is part of our freedom and we should be extremely thankful for it.

[kostkon]

That's the nature of the beast. Free Open Source OS, easy access to the source code..

[user1397]

GNU license terms.
This is part of our freedom and we should be extremely thankful for it.

That's the nature of the beast. Free Open Source OS, easy access to the source code..

I didn't mean to come off as an ungrateful open-source hater. Quite the opposite. I just mean from a main user base point of view.

I get it if they include it as part of the GPL license terms (do all distros do this?)

If not though, then it can only be negative for the average user, which is the user base canonical tailors to the most. On the one hand, it takes more time to fetch the data from the source repositories when doing a sudo apt-get update (yes this is minor), but on the other hand an average user may download source code accidentally or without knowing what it is exactly, and perhaps bork something in his system.

I just can't see any positives to including it by default, unless of course like I said earlier it is simply because of license terms.

Cheers.

[The Cog]

The source code is not installed by default. You have to ask for the source packages to be installed if you want them.
But the repositories are enabled, so you can select the packages for installation easily.
I think there has been some confusion about "enabled by default" and "installed by default" here.

[QIII]

Source code isn't dangerous. It does nothing in and of itself. In some ways it's similar to a pattern in a tailor's shop. Changing a pattern in a drawer does not change anything on the tailor's shelves.

[Warren Hill]

Since all the software is open source we have to make the source code available to anyone who wants it so its available in the repositories. That does not mean you have any of it installed on your machine. If you want the source for a particular package open a terminal and enter

apt-get source package

replace package with the name of the package you want the source code for.

You would probably be surprised how many people do download the source, either to make something similar or to help fix bugs and improve Ubuntu.

But if you are not interested in developing and just want to use your PC that's fine too. Your hard disk is not full of source code or anything. It is just a quick download away for anybody who wants it.

[vasa1]

... it takes more time to fetch the data from the source repositories when doing a sudo apt-get update (yes this is minor) ...

Hi, was the source code box ticked in "Software & Updates" (or whatever it's called on your system)? I can't remember what the default was on my clean install. Anyway, that's part of the ritual I go through on a clean install.

I agree that it could be a drag for people with slow connections or for people with limited usage plans. Otoh, a cynic may feel this is a good way to thin the herd.

[user1397]

The source code is not installed by default. You have to ask for the source packages to be installed if you want them.
But the repositories are enabled, so you can select the packages for installation easily.
I think there has been some confusion about "enabled by default" and "installed by default" here.

Indeed, this is why I said "enabled by default" in the title of this thread, and not the other way around. No confusion on my end.

Source code isn't dangerous. It does nothing in and of itself. In some ways it's similar to a pattern in a tailor's shop. Changing a pattern in a drawer does not change anything on the tailor's shelves.

I'm not saying that either, but like I said, maybe if someone were to accidentally download source code and didn't install/configure it correctly he might not install a program correctly or lead to dependency issues, all things that could drive this person to say "ubuntu is too complicated"

Since all the software is open source we have to make the source code available to anyone who wants it so its available in the repositories. That does not mean you have any of it installed on your machine. If you want the source for a particular package open a terminal and enter

apt-get source package

replace package with the name of the package you want the source code for.

You would probably be surprised how many people do download the source, either to make something similar or to help fix bugs and improve Ubuntu.

But if you are not interested in developing and just want to use your PC that's fine too. Your hard disk is not full of source code or anything. It is just a quick download away for anybody who wants it.

I understand you don't have any installed on your machine, I never argued that. I will however argue your point about how many people download the source code, I know it is impossible to know, but maybe we can set up a poll in a separate thread.

Hi, was the source code box ticked in "Software & Updates" (or whatever it's called on your system)? I can't remember what the default was on my clean install. Anyway, that's part of the ritual I go through on a clean install.

I agree that it could be a drag for people with slow connections or for people with limited usage plans. Otoh, a cynic may feel this is a good way to thin the herd.

Yes, it is ticked in the default clean install. It's also part of the ritual when I configure a clean install. Now, what do you mean by the whole cynic thing?

[buzzingrobot]

The source code is not installed by default. You have to ask for the source packages to be installed if you want them.
But the repositories are enabled, so you can select the packages for installation easily.
I think there has been some confusion about "enabled by default" and "installed by default" here.

This.

FOSS licensing requirements do not require source to be force fed on any and every binary install.