[Bug 2150814] [NEW] Add alternative to gcc packages

[Marcos Alano]

Public bug reported:

It would be nice to have an alternative added automatically during gcc installation so I can change easily the gcc version in my system.
Here is my problem: I installed gcc 16 on 26.04 LTS. In this release the default version still is 15.
Since the package gcc, where the command /usr/bin/gcc is, is for version 15.0, would be nice to add an alternative so I can execute sudo update-alternatives --config gcc and then select version 16.0. If I want to use it, I need to manually add the alternative.

Another option would be to create a package like gcc-16-bin where the
command /usr/bin/gcc points to gcc-16, but I think Debian/Ubuntu uses
alternatives instead of Fedora-based distros where this *-bin packages
are used.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 26.04
Package: gcc-16 16-20260322-1ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 7.0.0-15.15-generic 7.0.0
Uname: Linux 7.0.0-15-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.34.0-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sat May  2 10:01:03 2026
InstallationDate: Installed on 2021-11-26 (1618 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 21.10 "Impish Indri" - Release amd64 (20211012)
SourcePackage: gcc-16
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to resolute on 2026-02-28 (63 days ago)

** Affects: gcc-16 (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug resolute wayland-session

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2150814

Title:
  Add alternative to gcc packages

Status in gcc-16 package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  It would be nice to have an alternative added automatically during gcc installation so I can change easily the gcc version in my system.
  Here is my problem: I installed gcc 16 on 26.04 LTS. In this release the default version still is 15.
  Since the package gcc, where the command /usr/bin/gcc is, is for version 15.0, would be nice to add an alternative so I can execute sudo update-alternatives --config gcc and then select version 16.0. If I want to use it, I need to manually add the alternative.

  Another option would be to create a package like gcc-16-bin where the
  command /usr/bin/gcc points to gcc-16, but I think Debian/Ubuntu uses
  alternatives instead of Fedora-based distros where this *-bin packages
  are used.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 26.04
  Package: gcc-16 16-20260322-1ubuntu1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 7.0.0-15.15-generic 7.0.0
  Uname: Linux 7.0.0-15-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.34.0-0ubuntu2
  Architecture: amd64
  CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
  CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
  Date: Sat May  2 10:01:03 2026
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2021-11-26 (1618 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 21.10 "Impish Indri" - Release amd64 (20211012)
  SourcePackage: gcc-16
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to resolute on 2026-02-28 (63 days ago)

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