Rakubrew should abort if it fails to detect `gcc` or other compiler on the system

[jeffgazso]

Attempting to install Rakubrew without a C compiler installed, such as gcc, does not result in a warning to the end user. This is important, because any attempt to run rakubrew build will be attempted by Rakubrew but will quickly fail without a clear indication as to why. This is in contrast to attempting to install and run Rakubrew without git installed, which quickly results in an error and clear instructions to the end user on how to resolve the issue. Not having a C compiler installed should be treated similarly.

[patrickbkr]

Thanks for the report!

Rakubrew can be used without git and a compiler when using precompiled binaries with the rakubrew download command. So detecting this at install time makes little sense.

At build time, it makes sense to detect a missing git, because Git is a requirement of Rakubrew itself when doing rakubrew build.

As to the C compilers, those are only required by the MoarVM (the VM typically used underneath Rakudo) build toolchain, Rakubrew has little to do with them. As such a missing compiler should be warned about by the MoarVM build toolchain, not Rakubrew.

As such this is more of a MoarVM issue. Which console output do you see on your screen when a build fails because of a missing compiler? How could it be improved? Can you maybe open a respective issue on the MoarVM repo?

[jeffgazso]

As such this is more of a MoarVM issue. Which console output do you see on your screen when a build fails because of a missing compiler? How could it be improved? Can you maybe open a respective issue on the MoarVM repo?

@patrickbkr I'll reproduce the issue when I get a chance — give me a few days — and I'll post an update. If you still think it's a MoarVM issue after that, I'll open open an issue with that project.

Thanks for making Rakubrew!