From: Austin Ziegler <halostatue@...>
Date: 2005-09-25T03:39:25+09:00
Subject: Re: RubyGems in Ruby HEAD

On 9/24/05, Warren Seltzer <warrens@actcom.net.il> wrote:
> Austin Ziegler Wrote:
>  "The reality is that if people need a feature that
>    isn't available using your packaging system, but
>    it's available with another, they're going to
>    install it."
> For some installations, the whole idea is to prevent the hapless user from reconfiguring
> his or her machine.  That's how corporate policies regarding security, maintenance, and
> reliability are carried out...

And this is viable right up until the point where someone needs
something to get a job done. I've seen it happen for years. I've even
done things to get around silly restrictions.

But my point was specifically about the problems which people found
with Ruby on Debian (pre-Sarge) and various versions of MacOS X. The
packaging situation for Ruby on Debian was a mess to the point where
it was hardly usable, so people just started installing from source.
The same applies to MacOS X.

My point still stands. If Debian doesn't end up working *with*
RubyGems, then Debian users who need Ruby will either (1) handle the
situation themselves, usually with RubyGems or (2) abandon Debian. I'd
prefer Debian work with RubyGems, but I don't particularly have a
problem if Debian decides to go its own way and continue to treat Ruby
users as second-class citizens.

--
Austin Ziegler * halostatue@gmail.com
               * Alternate: austin@halostatue.ca