build-essential is a commonly used package

[Aethylred]

I suggest that declaring the build-essential package group is wrapped in a definition test, e.g.:

  # build-essential package is very common, so check for previous definition
  if ! defined(Package['build-essential']) {
    package{'build-essential':
      ensure => installed,
    }
  }

[craigwatson]

Awesome, thanks!