Re: how to build ruby on vms

Toni,

toni wrote:
> I'm SW-developer since 15 years, mostly on WIN32 and VMS.
> I want use Ruby on IA64-VMS and I could help testing and may be more.
>   

I have not yet tried to build Ruby on IA64-VMS.  Why don't you start 
with the vmsruby port (see below) and try to build it?  Testing & 
patches are welcome, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have 
about it.

If the ruby-core community doesn't consider it off-topic, I'd like to 
keep those discussions here on this list so we have a public record of 
it.  Otherwise, there is the open-discussion forum for the vmsruby 
project that we have not yet taken advantage of.

> Still I'm pretty new in Ruby, its organization and all that...
> Before I search too long, could you show me where to start from?
> How do I build it on VMS? I can use IA64 and AXP. If realy needed
> we can reactivate also a VAX (a real one not the emulator ;-) )
>   

As Dudley has pointed out, I maintain the vmsruby project at:

http://rubyforge.org/projects/vmsruby/

You should check out the Subversion trunk:

http://rubyforge.org/scm/?group_id=2483

See vmsbuild/com/0.readme for build instructions.

Although the project has not been very active recently, it is still 
alive and the port, such as it is, is functional.  The main problem is 
that we only have as much of it working as our company needs so far.  To 
turn it into something usable by the broader community will take more 
work than we have been able to put into it alone.

The aim with this project is not to keep it as a fork forever, but to 
produce patches that are accepted into the main branch.  I started that 
process, but did not get very far.

One impediment to finishing is that the port started from the work of 
Masamichi Akiyoshi on a fork from Ruby 1.8.2, who, unfortunately, no 
longer works on the port.  So now we have all of this old code not 
written by us that has not been merged back into the latest upstream 
Ruby release.  To ensure the long term viability of this project, this 
will have to happen.

Another issue is that my expertise is almost all in the business 
application programming domain, not in the writing or porting of 
language interpreters, nor in the intimate details of VMS system 
programming.  While experts on the HP ITRC OpenVMS forums at 
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/familyhome.do?familyId=288 
have been an immeasurable help to filling in the gaps in my knowledge, I 
imagine the project would be in much better hands if someone who already 
had these skills came on board.

I hope my honesty about the state of the project has not put you off.  
We have managed to get Ruby on Rails working on the port, are working on 
getting ferret working, and are finding new ways to use it week by week, 
which has helped to nurse the project along.  It's an exciting and fun 
project; it just needs a bit more care to really take off.

Regards,
Ben Armstrong
--
Software Developer, Dymaxion Research Ltd.