Why doesn't LINQ include a `distinct` keyword?

Question

NOTE: Before you read on or provide an answer, I know about Enumerable.Distinct, I am asking about specific language support for that method, not about the method itself.

I've always wondered why there is no distinct keyword in the C# LINQ keyword set so that I could write:

var items = distinct from x in y
            select x;

or

var items = from x in y
            select distinct x;

Anybody know why this wasn't included or why it would be a bad idea to include it? It just feels cumbersome to me that I have to wrap the query just to call Distinct(); a distinct keyword would feel more natural.

NOTE: I know that the Distinct method has overrides to provide a comparer if that is required, but a keyword that uses the default comparer would be great. I could even imagine a distinct by keyword combination so that a comparison operator could be provided inline to the query.

Answer 1

In VB, there actually is.

Dim l = From x In {1, 2, 3, 2, 4, 2} Distinct Select x

I don't suspect there has been some active decision against distinct for C#, it's just has not been implemented.