Add Compiling Support
The next item we need to add to the XO is the ability to compile source code. This requires a package known as GCC (GNU Compiler Collection), which can be installed with the following command—assuming you are connected to a wireless network with Internet access.
yum install gcc
Yes, it really is that easy.
When you type this command and hit Enter, the XO will connect to various online sites that store software packages for the XO, to see if the specified package is available. If it is, the next thing the yum (Yellow Dog Update, Modified) will do is determine what, if any, dependencies are needed for the specified package to work.
For example, if you were to install Gimp (a very popular open-source graphics editing software package) on the XO using yum install gimp, you'd first have to approve the installation of 27 other packages—including gimp-libs, xorg-x11-font-utils, libsemanage-2.0, audit-libs-python, and many more. Fortunately, yum takes care of all these details and does the dirty work for you, so you can spend more time surfing websites like InformIT.com!