diff --git a/lib/spack/llnl/util/lang.py b/lib/spack/llnl/util/lang.py
index d2cce42a16d..83d4c8938cf 100644
--- a/lib/spack/llnl/util/lang.py
+++ b/lib/spack/llnl/util/lang.py
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def index_by(objects, *funcs):
     if isinstance(f, str):
         f = lambda x: getattr(x, funcs[0])
     elif isinstance(f, tuple):
-        f = lambda x: tuple(getattr(x, p) for p in funcs[0])
+        f = lambda x: tuple(getattr(x, p, None) for p in funcs[0])
 
     result = {}
     for o in objects:
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/__init__.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/__init__.py
index 5cb02df6963..5150b437a76 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/__init__.py
@@ -375,8 +375,13 @@ def iter_groups(specs, indent, all_headers):
     index = index_by(specs, ("architecture", "compiler"))
     ispace = indent * " "
 
+    def _key(item):
+        if item is None:
+            return ""
+        return str(item)
+
     # Traverse the index and print out each package
-    for i, (architecture, compiler) in enumerate(sorted(index)):
+    for i, (architecture, compiler) in enumerate(sorted(index, key=_key)):
         if i > 0:
             print()
 
@@ -434,7 +439,6 @@ def display_specs(specs, args=None, **kwargs):
 
     """
 
-    # FIXME (compiler as nodes): remove the "show full compiler" arguments, and its use
     def get_arg(name, default=None):
         """Prefer kwargs, then args, then default."""
         if name in kwargs:
@@ -449,7 +453,6 @@ def get_arg(name, default=None):
     hashes = get_arg("long", False)
     namespaces = get_arg("namespaces", False)
     flags = get_arg("show_flags", False)
-    full_compiler = get_arg("show_full_compiler", False)
     variants = get_arg("variants", False)
     groups = get_arg("groups", True)
     all_headers = get_arg("all_headers", False)
@@ -471,10 +474,7 @@ def get_arg(name, default=None):
     if format_string is None:
         nfmt = "{fullname}" if namespaces else "{name}"
         ffmt = ""
-        if full_compiler or flags:
-            ffmt += "{%compiler.name}"
-            if full_compiler:
-                ffmt += "{@compiler.version}"
+        if flags:
             ffmt += " {compiler_flags}"
         vfmt = "{variants}" if variants else ""
         format_string = nfmt + "{@version}" + ffmt + vfmt
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py
index 90652e94316..9ae11b5e381 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py
@@ -518,8 +518,6 @@ def config_prefer_upstream(args):
     for spec in pref_specs:
         # Collect all the upstream compilers and versions for this package.
         pkg = pkgs.get(spec.name, {"version": []})
-        all = pkgs.get("all", {"compiler": []})
-        pkgs["all"] = all
         pkgs[spec.name] = pkg
 
         # We have no existing variant if this is our first added version.
@@ -529,10 +527,6 @@ def config_prefer_upstream(args):
         if version not in pkg["version"]:
             pkg["version"].append(version)
 
-        compiler = str(spec.compiler)
-        if compiler not in all["compiler"]:
-            all["compiler"].append(compiler)
-
         # Get and list all the variants that differ from the default.
         variants = []
         for var_name, variant in spec.variants.items():
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py
index 24f11c5fe38..e17b6c5fe60 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/find.py
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ def setup_parser(subparser):
         "--show-full-compiler",
         action="store_true",
         dest="show_full_compiler",
-        help="(DEPRECATED) show full compiler specs",
+        help="(DEPRECATED) show full compiler specs. Currently it's a no-op",
     )
     implicit_explicit = subparser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
     implicit_explicit.add_argument(
@@ -278,7 +278,6 @@ def root_decorator(spec, string):
             # these enforce details in the root specs to show what the user asked for
             namespaces=True,
             show_flags=True,
-            show_full_compiler=True,
             decorator=root_decorator,
             variants=True,
         )
@@ -301,7 +300,6 @@ def root_decorator(spec, string):
             decorator=lambda s, f: color.colorize("@*{%s}" % f),
             namespace=True,
             show_flags=True,
-            show_full_compiler=True,
             variants=True,
         )
         print()
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/package_base.py b/lib/spack/spack/package_base.py
index d8522c69e98..ad8f309fe61 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/package_base.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/package_base.py
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@
 import llnl.util.tty as tty
 from llnl.util.lang import classproperty, memoized
 
-import spack.compilers.config
 import spack.config
 import spack.dependency
 import spack.deptypes as dt
@@ -1813,17 +1812,14 @@ def _resource_stage(self, resource):
         return resource_stage_folder
 
     def do_test(self, dirty=False, externals=False):
-        if self.test_requires_compiler:
-            compilers = spack.compilers.config.compilers_for_spec(
-                self.spec.compiler, arch_spec=self.spec.architecture
+        if self.test_requires_compiler and not any(
+            lang in self.spec for lang in ("c", "cxx", "fortran")
+        ):
+            tty.error(
+                f"Skipping tests for package {self.spec}, since a compiler is required, "
+                f"but not available"
             )
-            if not compilers:
-                tty.error(
-                    "Skipping tests for package %s\n"
-                    % self.spec.format("{name}-{version}-{hash:7}")
-                    + "Package test requires missing compiler %s" % self.spec.compiler
-                )
-                return
+            return
 
         kwargs = {
             "dirty": dirty,
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/report.py b/lib/spack/spack/report.py
index 04bdac7b4aa..0f23fcd6e50 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/report.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/report.py
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ def __enter__(self):
                 "packages": [],
             }
             spec_record["properties"].append(Property("architecture", input_spec.architecture))
-            spec_record["properties"].append(Property("compiler", input_spec.compiler))
             self.init_spec_record(input_spec, spec_record)
             self.specs.append(spec_record)
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
index 5b24cd7018e..886191ff868 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/spec.py
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ def __contains__(self, string):
         return string in str(self) or string in self.target
 
     def complete_with_defaults(self) -> None:
-        default_architecture = spack.spec.ArchSpec.default_arch()
+        default_architecture = ArchSpec.default_arch()
         if not self.platform:
             self.platform = default_architecture.platform
 
@@ -703,7 +703,8 @@ def factory(self, instance, owner):
             deps = instance.dependencies(virtuals=language)
             if deps:
                 return CompilerSpec(deps[0])
-        return CompilerSpec(Spec())
+
+        raise AttributeError(f"{instance} has no C, C++, or Fortran compiler")
 
 
 @lang.lazy_lexicographic_ordering
@@ -1435,13 +1436,13 @@ def tree(
 class SpecAnnotations:
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         self.original_spec_format = SPECFILE_FORMAT_VERSION
-        self.compiler_node_attribute: Optional["spack.spec.Spec"] = None
+        self.compiler_node_attribute: Optional["Spec"] = None
 
     def with_spec_format(self, spec_format: int) -> "SpecAnnotations":
         self.original_spec_format = spec_format
         return self
 
-    def with_compiler(self, compiler: "spack.spec.Spec") -> "SpecAnnotations":
+    def with_compiler(self, compiler: "Spec") -> "SpecAnnotations":
         self.compiler_node_attribute = compiler
         return self
 
@@ -3009,10 +3010,9 @@ def validate_or_raise(self):
             if spec.name and not spack.repo.PATH.is_virtual(spec.name):
                 spack.repo.PATH.get_pkg_class(spec.fullname)
 
-            # validate compiler in addition to the package name.
+            # FIXME: atm allow '%' on abstract specs only if they depend on C, C++, or Fortran
             if spec.dependencies(deptype="build"):
                 pkg_cls = spack.repo.PATH.get_pkg_class(spec.fullname)
-                # FIXME (compiler as nodes): raise if we use %gcc on pkgs that do not depend on C
                 pkg_dependencies = pkg_cls.dependency_names()
                 if not any(x in pkg_dependencies for x in ("c", "cxx", "fortran")):
                     raise UnsupportedCompilerError(
@@ -3975,6 +3975,9 @@ def format_attribute(match_object: Match) -> str:
                     try:
                         current = getattr(current, part)
                     except AttributeError:
+                        if part == "compiler":
+                            return "none"
+
                         raise SpecFormatStringError(
                             f"Attempted to format attribute {attribute}. "
                             f"Spec {'.'.join(parts[:idx])} has no attribute {part}"