i think you can assume a modern dev machine has python & nodejs... but you can't assume it has a golang compiler or wants one.
@robey I will more or less close the tab as soon as I find that something needs node
not so with python because there's a chance I might be able to install it thru apt, but if it's not in apt and it has more than zero dependencies ... that's not gonna happen
@technomancy @robey yeah, while i think it's pretty safe to say that mine is atypical of modern dev machines, i won't deliberately get node on any system i don't think of as completely disposable. i'll suffer through python dependency thrash here and there, but only because my work requires it.
on reflection: i think maybe the possibility space for "dev machine" and what people consider reasonable is too fractured to admit of easy generalizations.