[ruby-core:23609] Re: Meaning of RUBY_PLATFORM

On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 7:22 PM, Luis Lavena <[e-mail]> wrote:

>
> Checking for one specific version of the OS to ensure a service is
> running or installed is brittle.

Well the guy wasn't checking for a specific version he was checking
for at least the version when that feature became a core part of the
OS.

> There must be another way to determine, at runtime if fsevent is
> installed, enabled or running.
>
> For the gem part, I suggest build the gem with the following for
> Gem::Specification:
>
> Gem::Platform.new('universal-darwin')

Hey, it's not my gem.  I was only trying to point out that:

1) The guy who wrote the gem fell into the trap of assuming that
RUBY_PLATFORM gives information about the runtime environment rather
than the environment at the time that the ruby executable was
configured/compiled.

2) The only documentation I can find of the meaning of RUBY_PLATFORM
is that it describes the runtime environment, that documentation is in
both the 2nd and 3rd eds of the Pickaxe.

3) It might be nice if the doc better reflected reality to keep others
from going astray.

And if RUBY_PLATFORM is only intended to describe the type rather than
the version of the system, perhaps it should include such version
information.

-- 
Rick DeNatale

Blog: http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RickDeNatale
WWR: http://www.workingwithrails.com/person/9021-rick-denatale
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenatale