ubuntu: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:

chris@snackerjack-lx:/usr/src/mp3cut-0.8$ make
gcc -o mp3cut mp3cut.c
mp3cut.c:25:19: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:26:20: error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:27:20: error: string.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:28:20: error: unistd.h: No such file or directory

..etc .. etc

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work? Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

Funny, you have over 27,000 views and no replies. I just wanted to say thank you (almost 2 years after you post). As a newbie to Ubuntu, I needed this.

Thanks :D this was helpful for me too. I really like ubuntu and can't wait for next version :)

Incredibly helpful. Thank you.

Thank you man! One of the most useful posts I ever ran into!!

i also must thank you sir!

Good comment. As you said, ubuntu comes with gcc but no include files. x(
You saved me a lot of google-ing.
10x

THANK VERY MUCH!
I'VE COME INTO THE SAME PROBLEM, AND I'VE SOLVED IT.

A single thank you says as much as a thousand words! So... THANK YOU

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:

chris@snackerjack-lx:/usr/src/mp3cut-0.8$ make
gcc -o mp3cut mp3cut.c
mp3cut.c:25:19: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:26:20: error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:27:20: error: string.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:28:20: error: unistd.h: No such file or directory

..etc .. etc

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work? Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

Thanks from here too!

Oh, I've got into the same trouble, u r my savior. Gracias!!!

Wanted to chime in with another "thank you". The exact solution to my problem.

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

thank u!

I am new to OSS but I found that information in OSS community are of various quality, and your post is right on spot and of highest quality. It helps me and alot of people solving their problems.
Thanks

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:

chris@snackerjack-lx:/usr/src/mp3cut-0.8$ make
gcc -o mp3cut mp3cut.c
mp3cut.c:25:19: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:26:20: error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:27:20: error: string.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:28:20: error: unistd.h: No such file or directory

..etc .. etc

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work? Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

I think it is because not all Unix systems are used for programming. Thanks for this post.

This one result made my simple "Hello World" program shift from error to compiled. Thanks :D

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

I totally agree! Thanks a lot!

ubuntu 8.04, same problem... thanks man ...

Thank you
Saved major googling for me too
and I agree with your rant

Thanks. Also helped me!

Thanks from me too!!!!

funny thing, i always thought, every Linux system has all of these compiler and library stuff

thanks a lot

VERY helpful. Thanks!

VERY helpful. Thanks!

thanks! that's helpful dude

1) In response to your rant, it would be foolish to include dev files by default when only a fraction of Ubuntu users will ever compile anything. Anyone compiling a program should have the ability to install necessary libraries - it only takes a few seconds, after all. If a 60 second Google search is too much to ask of you, I recommend you change your major. The Ubuntu/Debian package mgmt system focuses on getting pre-compiled packages to the end user. Use Gentoo or BSD if you want to have to compile everything.

2) The "build-essential" package is designed for building Debian packages - this is not what you are doing. What you really want to install is just the standard C++ dev headers.
This package is: libstdc++6-dev

This is a "virtual package," meaning it will be updated as necessary and you won't be tied to a specific version. I realize y'all are learning to program and wish you luck. One good programming habit is to NOT install unneeded libraries on your system - this will:
save you many headaches in the future;
minimize the number of updates for your system in the long run;
make the world a better place

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work? Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:
--snip--

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work?

Ubuntu - a Linux distribution for people who know nothing about such things. Their package management is designed to get pre-compiled software to the end user. If you want a compiler-heavy exprience, use Gentoo or BSD.

Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

This is not what you should be installing. If you read the description of "build-essential" you'll see that it generally provides libraries essential for building Debian packages. Your "Hello World" C program is not a Debian package.

The package you should really be installing is: stdc++6-dev

Excuse my rant, but quit ranting. Clearly you're attempting to learn a little about programming. Doing so will always require "a brief google." If this is such a hardship, then it's time to change your major/profession. Your method for getting stdio.h on your system amounts to a naive and foolish hack, and now you've gotten dozens of others to follow in your footsteps. A bit of advice to novices - never install extraneous libraries. It is a terrible practice that will cause you much trouble.

Remove my post if you find it insulting. However, you'll be doing the community a favor if you edit your original post with instructions to install the "stdc++6-dev" package instead of "build-essential".

Hey Helpful People,

It's getting better, but as I'm guessing these posts are aimed at newbies...

The package you should really be installing is: libstdc++6-dev (notice the difference?)

Perhaps there are ubuntu users out there who are having an issue similar to mine.

I've got the packages mentioned by TJ and yolabingo (always leaves a great impression, flaming a post that started two years ago and was attempting to help people).

However, even with libc6 and libstdc++6 installed (according to SPM) I'm still getting the same compiler error.

error: stdio.h: No such file or directory

While I would love to connect to the internet with my ubuntu installation and attempt an update or direct download of packages, I'm trying to compile my nic drivers ... yay atheros ... and my wired nic doesn't function either.

Now, apart from missing packages, extraneous or not, can anyone tell me why I might get the compiler error listed here?


(side note - ubuntu picked up the proprietary media keys on my laptop, totally missed my lan card ..., one step ahead of red hat but I'm getting very frustrated)

Thank you very much!

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:

chris@snackerjack-lx:/usr/src/mp3cut-0.8$ make
gcc -o mp3cut mp3cut.c
mp3cut.c:25:19: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:26:20: error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:27:20: error: string.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:28:20: error: unistd.h: No such file or directory

..etc .. etc

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work? Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!

I must echo this - and then chastize Ubuntu for not providing simple headers out of the box. If you are going to take this approach, then please make the Synaptic package manager capable of "groups," such that I can click a group and get all relevant things. Right now, the groups buttons give me related packages, but then I have to manually sift through it all and see which ones I want.

Additionally, I should be able to have a "what provides" semantic in the "search" feature. Searching on "stdio.h" in Synaptic only says, "no such package found." No, that's not helpful - why not just tell me what package "stdio.h" is in, and then install that package?

Is this asking too much?

Is Ubuntu in fact a step backwards in the Linux distro progression?

Way to go! share the knowledge

Thank you very much

Thanks!

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:

chris@snackerjack-lx:/usr/src/mp3cut-0.8$ make
gcc -o mp3cut mp3cut.c
mp3cut.c:25:19: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:26:20: error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:27:20: error: string.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:28:20: error: unistd.h: No such file or directory

..etc .. etc

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work? Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

dude this is really a wonderfull job
great thank u
but for what purposes that command is help full
could u please mail me

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Many more thanks.

1) In response to your rant, it would be foolish to include dev files by default when only a fraction of Ubuntu users will ever compile anything. Anyone compiling a program should have the ability to install necessary libraries - it only takes a few seconds, after all. If a 60 second Google search is too much to ask of you, I recommend you change your major. The Ubuntu/Debian package mgmt system focuses on getting pre-compiled packages to the end user. Use Gentoo or BSD if you want to have to compile everything.

In response to your response to the other person's rant, then why does Ubuntu include gcc by default? If you don't have stdio.h, gcc isn't much use. Maybe for a cross compile or something.

As for your statement that anyone who wants to learn how to program should know how to find out what packages to install, it sure wasn't that complex in the '70's with the Digital Equipment Corp. PDP 11/45 running fifth edition Unix. You just said #include <stdio.h> and cc myprog.c and it compiled!!

Great Thanks!

I've spend about two hours by this shit... It's good to have people like you on this planet!


PrzemCio.

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

So, why not? 'but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird.'

Cheers,
Rahul.

YES! Thank you! I was looking and looking for why the I couldn't find the libraries when I knew my program was spot on correct, you truely are a god among men.

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:

chris@snackerjack-lx:/usr/src/mp3cut-0.8$ make
gcc -o mp3cut mp3cut.c
mp3cut.c:25:19: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:26:20: error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:27:20: error: string.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:28:20: error: unistd.h: No such file or directory

..etc .. etc

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work? Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

This has been helpful :) Thx dude !!! xD

So, why not? 'but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird.'

Cheers,
Rahul.
[/QUOTE]

Well, I assume then there are many more things besides gcc to include into the ubuntu CD. It's just around 700 Mb, so impossible to include all the progs one might find "essential".

Thanks for posting this!

I am still in trouble after following your advice.
Maybe things go defferent....

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:
--snip--

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work?

Ubuntu - a Linux distribution for people who know nothing about such things. Their package management is designed to get pre-compiled software to the end user. If you want a compiler-heavy exprience, use Gentoo or BSD.

Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

This is not what you should be installing. If you read the description of "build-essential" you'll see that it generally provides libraries essential for building Debian packages. Your "Hello World" C program is not a Debian package.

The package you should really be installing is: stdc++6-dev

Excuse my rant, but quit ranting. Clearly you're attempting to learn a little about programming. Doing so will always require "a brief google." If this is such a hardship, then it's time to change your major/profession. Your method for getting stdio.h on your system amounts to a naive and foolish hack, and now you've gotten dozens of others to follow in your footsteps. A bit of advice to novices - never install extraneous libraries. It is a terrible practice that will cause you much trouble.

Remove my post if you find it insulting. However, you'll be doing the community a favor if you edit your original post with instructions to install the "stdc++6-dev" package instead of "build-essential".

I was hoping this would fix my issue, but no :(

When I try to "sudo apt-get install build-essentials" or "sudo apt-get install stdc++6-dev" or "sudo apt-get install libstdc++6-dev", I always get "Couldn't find package ..."

I'm also just trying to compile my first helloworld.c type application on a Linux box and it's SO FRUSTRATING!!

Thanks for your advice.

thanks a lot

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:

chris@snackerjack-lx:/usr/src/mp3cut-0.8$ make
gcc -o mp3cut mp3cut.c
mp3cut.c:25:19: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:26:20: error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:27:20: error: string.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:28:20: error: unistd.h: No such file or directory

..etc .. etc

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work? Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo

Funny, you have over 27,000 views and no replies. I just wanted to say thank you (almost 2 years after you post). As a newbie to Ubuntu, I needed this.

Thanks a ton

This is not what you should be installing. If you read the description of "build-essential" you'll see that it generally provides libraries essential for building Debian packages. Your "Hello World" C program is not a Debian package.

The package you should really be installing is: stdc++6-dev

How did you know that stdio.h is in stdc++6-dev ?

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo
follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/planet_guru

The reason is in Ubuntu installer size. The idea was to keep the installer small enough to fit into one CD. I am ok with that, since on old machines without DVD drive it might be a mess to install Ubuntu. Googling the problem brought me to this page immediately, so I didn't have problem at all - just one line in terminal and problem solved. Thanks, guys!

Firstly, thanks for the post!!

After typing the command Ubuntu says this:

Media change: please insert the disc labeled
'Ubuntu 7.10 _Gutsy Gibbon_ - Release i386 (20071016)'
in the drive '/cdrom/' and press enter

I inserted the CD and it says the same thing again...
could you let me know why does it need the CD and what do I do next??

Thanks again.

Somehow I assumed that I would be able to compile a basic C program on any linux box - I mean unices are useful like that, right? So I was a bit surprised when I decided to compile a bit of C just now (in fact Christian Wolff's neat little mp3cut tool) and was faced with the following errors:

chris@snackerjack-lx:/usr/src/mp3cut-0.8$ make
gcc -o mp3cut mp3cut.c
mp3cut.c:25:19: error: stdio.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:26:20: error: stdlib.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:27:20: error: string.h: No such file or directory
mp3cut.c:28:20: error: unistd.h: No such file or directory

..etc .. etc

So what kind of unix comes with make and a compiler, but none of the required dev libraries and headers required to make any normal C program work? Well a brief google yielded the following solution.. Yup, you guessed it.. you need to install a dev package:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Excuse my rant, but if it's so 'essential', then why isn't it installed as part of the core system? I find that kinda weird. Anyway, problem fixed and C-sources are now compiling.

christo
follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/planet_guru

Thanks from me too!! :)