Benchmarks results for Compilers on FreeBSD 11

[Mark Linimon]

I'll demur just a bit on your points.

On Mon, Aug 29, 2016 at 08:51:02PM -0700, K. Macy wrote:
> "we need a compiler to build the system" (a prebuilt package does that
> just fine),

Well, yes, for a tier-1 machine; and one that is connected to the network.

> I can't speak for the whole universe of users, but I think it's safe
> to say that most users are not power users who individually configure
> ports tailored to their needs.

We've certainly tried to provide a migration path away from that, but I
don't think anyone has statistics about how far along we are.  IMHO we
can't assume it's 100%, or maybe even 80%.

> I think my experiences on Ubuntu [...] are illustrative.

A number of years ago Ubuntu and FreeBSD had barely overlapping audiences:
end-users and developers.  With all the improvements to pkg and tier-1
packages I hope that is changing -- the goal of expanding the reach is
why I supported all the changes I saw being made.

But for me an attraction has always been "you can build it out of the box",
even if I rarely do it (e.g. I am not working in the kernel/driver area), 

mcl