In 1993, you were almost certainly going to have to pay money to write software on or for Mac OS. In 2013, you most certainly do not have to pay money on or for Mac OS X.
Xcode is free-as-in-beer. You can install this if you want to avoid Apple's tooling: https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer
Ruby, Python, Perl and other interpreters come standard with OS X. As does a terminal. Things are better, not worse.
In Apple Developer System Statuskennethreitz
osx-gcc-installer
Python2011–2013
kennethreitz / osx-gcc-installer
osx-gcc-installer
GCC Installer for OSX! Without Xcode!
20Distinct people
20Mentions
1Explicit recommenders
38GitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
GCC Installer for OSX! Without Xcode!
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
While this doesn't help him get his time back, next time I'd encourage him to use rvm as the other posters have previously indicated — but instead of actually installing the…
peteforde used a recommendation phrase. One indexed comment matches. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
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Also in these discussions
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This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 5:04:57 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by month20 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2011-07-30 00:40:47 UTC to 2013-07-25 02:46:14 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2011 | 2011-07-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2011-08-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Aug 2011 | 2011-08-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2011 | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2011-10-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Oct 2011 | 2011-10-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2011-11-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 2011 | 2011-11-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Dec 2011 | 2011-12-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jan 2012 | 2012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-02-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Feb 2012 | 2012-02-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-03-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2012 | 2012-03-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Apr 2012 | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-05-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| May 2012 | 2012-05-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-06-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 2012 | 2012-06-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-07-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 2012 | 2012-07-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-08-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Aug 2012 | 2012-08-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-09-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2012 | 2012-09-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-10-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 2012 | 2012-10-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-11-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 2012 | 2012-11-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-12-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 2012 | 2012-12-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jan 2013 | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-02-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Feb 2013 | 2013-02-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-03-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2013 | 2013-03-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-04-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Apr 2013 | 2013-04-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-05-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May 2013 | 2013-05-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-06-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 2013 | 2013-06-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-07-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 2013 | 2013-07-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-08-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
OSX GCC Installer
The osx-gcc-installer allows you to install the essential compilers from either pre-built binary packages or helps you create your own installer.
For Lion and above users, Apple now provides an official Command Line Tools for Xcode package that you can install without needing to install Xcode itself! You can install it with xcode-select --install on Mavericks and Yosemite or download it from Apple's developer site (free registration required) and search for "Command Line Tools" on Lion and Mountain Lion.
If you still need gcc-4.2, and you use Homebrew, you can install it using the apple-gcc42 package from homebrew/dupes.
Option 1: Downloading Pre-Built Binaries
You can download the installers on the
Releases page or use the links below:
OS X 10.7 Lion: GCC-10.7-v0.3.pkg
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: GCC-10.6-v0.3.pkg
Option 2: Build Your Own
To create your own package, place the Xcode Installer for your OS version
(Install Xcode.app) in the root directory of the repository, and edit the
packages_list.txt file to include the packages you want. Then run the build.py script:
python build.py
it will produce a build_essentials.pkg file by default, containing all the
desired packages. For example, if you want to include all the default packages
but want to add the 10.6 SDK, the file would look as follows:
DevSDK.pkg
DeveloperToolsCLI.pkg
MacOSX10.6.pkg
clang.pkg
llvm-gcc4.2.pkg
gcc4.2.pkg
What's Included?
GCC
LLVM
Clang
Developer CLI Tools (purge, etc)
DevSDK (headers, etc)
References
The source code from Apple for these packages is available here:
http://www.opensource.apple.com/release/developer-tools-41/
Troubleshooting
Do not install this if you already have Xcode installed! Mixing Xcode and osx-gcc-installer
is known to cause various difficult-to-diagnose problems and is not recommended.
If you intend to only use command line tools you should first uninstall Xcode entirely before
installing osx-gcc-installer.
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
20 sourcestemporary workaround: https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer
In Apple Developer System Status> Installing Rails on a Mac Shouldn't Be As Hard As It Is (cabforward.com)
1. Editorialized headline
2. It's easier than this article-- you don't have to install XCode: https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer/
3. There are some smart folks working hard to make it easier: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1397300529/railsapp
In Installing Rails on a Mac Shouldn't Be As Hard As It Ishttps://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer
Use the prebuilt packages in the readme.
In Ask HN: MacBook Pro still preferred laptop for non-MS development?for future reference, step 1 - gcc toolchain (https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer or xcode), step 2 - rvm (http://beginrescueend.com/), step 3 - "rvm install 1.9.3 && rvm 1.9.3 --default && gem install rails" (homebrew will also probably be necessary for any dev work on osx, but not really needed to get rails going)
In Rails isn't for beginnersYes, I'm actually checking to see if it contains a plain gcc compiler (like Xcode 4.1 did), currently the llvm-gcc that is symlinked with /usr/bin/gcc with Xcode 4.2 doesn't work too well with software from rvm and homebrew.
edit:
I just pulled down the Unix developer tools, it comes with llvm-gcc and clang. /usr/bin/gcc is symlinked with llvm-gcc. Any packages that need plain gcc will not work with the "command-line-tools-for-xcode.dmg" install. We'll have to keep using something like OSX-GCC-Installer (https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer) for now.
Anyway, this is a positive move for those of us who want to be able to use Xcode and also need/want a normal gcc installation on the same machine.
In New Features in Xcode 4.3You can get it here https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer
In Apple’s great GPL purgeBTW, anyone who wants GCC for Mac OS X can easily do so using the OS X GCC installer: https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer
In Apple’s great GPL purgeWhile this doesn't help him get his time back, next time I'd encourage him to use rvm as the other posters have previously indicated — but instead of actually installing the massive XCode bundle (4GBs is a lot if you're using an SSD) I recommend he check out this 300MB bundle you can install which is just gcc and the other bare minimum tools you'd need to get ruby and the various gems working:
https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer
Also, one small gripe is that it sounds like the majority of his complaints were actually trying to get Python and Mercurial working. This isn't really the fault of OS X nor does it bog down most Rails devs working on OS X. Just some perspective!
In Trying Rails and Mac. Confessions of a .NET Developer> If it was a real issue someone would have packaged up GCC or LLVM
https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer
In Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.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.
In Ubuntu should zig to Apple’s zagyou're probably better off not installing all of x-code when all you want is GCC. Try this instead: https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer
In Modern Ruby DevelopmentGCC Installer for OSX without Xcode
8 points · Open discussionThere's always Kenneth Reitz' GCC-without-XCode installer[1].
[1] https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer
In 2011 Rubyist’s guide to a Mac OS X development environmentShowing the 15 most recent of 20 sources. Enable JavaScript to search and browse every indexed mention.