From: Dick Davies <rasputnik@...>
Date: 2005-01-27T07:36:08+09:00
Subject: Re: Gems package manager

* Jeffrey Moss <jeff@opendbms.com> [0112 22:12]:
> I have a few suggestions for the rubygems package manager
> 
> If you have to use require_gem to load your library, it aught to have a config option to download the most recent version automatically as your script is executing. That would make it 10x more useful to me.

How much easier does this make your life? 10x ? I can't see how to be honest.
Off the top of me head:

* a change in the API in the more recent version would break your code 
* would unit tests also trigger this auto-download?
* are you always running ruby as root?
     ( if yes, are you happy downloading code off the net to run as root?
       if no, are you going to give each user their own gem directory?
     )
* is the network always available?
* wouldn't you rather know what version of someone elses code you're running?

> There should also be a config option to create symbolic links (or shortcuts) to the most recently installed packages in the site_ruby directory when you install a gem, so that you can skip the require_gem and instead just require directly from site_ruby. Maybe the gems command can switch your default version around (replace the symlink). I would prefer to have that flexibility there also.

If you :

a) "require 'ubygems'"
b)  add a '-rubygems' to your command line
or
c) set RUBYOPT='rubygems' in your environment

you can use require and it defaults to the latest gem.

See 

http://onestepback.org/articles/rubygemsfacets/index.html

for more blurb.

Both these ideas were discussed at length back in the mists of time
when rubygems was young ( last summer ) - see the rubygems list archives.

-- 
'Bender, Ship, stop arguing or I'll come back there and change
your opinions manually.'
		-- Leela
Rasputin :: Jack of All Trades - Master of Nuns