From: Ian Hobson Date: 2005-01-29T05:38:50+09:00 Subject: Re: Best ways to accelerate Ruby's popularity In message <41F58CEF.70807@infofiend.com>, Ben Giddings writes lots of good stuff, that misses the point. If you want people to use ruby, the solution is to make the learning curve rather shallow. Ruby and the application they want to run (rails??) must run "out of the box). I've used ruby on and off for 6 months. Two weeks ago I heard of rails and wanted to try it out. Since then... I have installed the latest version of MySQL and found it would not work. I was getting 500 errors from apache whenever I used rails. So found the password fix, applied it. I was still getting 500 errors from apache whenever I used rails. Removed MySQL and installed the version before the password validation was upgraded. I was still getting 500 errors from apache whenever I used rails. Altered my apache configuration many many many times. I was still getting 500 errors from apache whenever I used rails. Looked at logs. I get 9 or so errors. The only one I can fix is missing favicon.ico - one I happen to know is totally harmless. Posted for help, twice, in the rails forum. Two answers. One - I use Linux, and know nothing about windows. Sorry. Two. I think you need a /tmp directory. Where? In d:/rails, d:/ruby D:/dev/public? After digging I find that ruby's tmpdir.rb uses win32api to find the windows install directory, and then wants /tmp under that - I think. Why? For goodness sake! EVERY windows installation I have ever found as TWO environment variable that point to the temporary directory. Theses are %TMP% and %TEMP% These have existed since the days of windows 3.1! This is NOT cutting edge stuff! Ruby could use either - they will point to a directory where the current user has read, write and file create permissions. Anyway, I create my c:/winnt/tmp directory (next to the c:/winnt/temp directory!) I was still getting 500 errors from apache whenever I used rails. Two weeks, much digging into internals I should not need to dig in to, (turning up errors that should not be there), and I still get errors that stop me dead. Now my problem might be an APACHE problem. It might be a rails problem. It might still be a MySQL problem. It might be a ruby problem. It is a problem that stops me using rails. Until new users do not routinely have such problems, you will not gain more users. I have posted details of my problem elsewhere. If you want to help please answer there. Here, I suggest you address the real issue. Ruby is a fantastic language, let down by poor online documentation some bugs lack of cohesion in what is presented. No documetation of configuration, so when it does not work, there is nothing to do but dig into the source! Credit where is is due - If it wasn't for Thomas, Hunt and Why ruby would be a dead duck. How do you recruit 300 more like them? Linux is the success on the server that it has been ONLY because apache, php, MySql and the kernel all "just work". It is struggling to make it to the desk top because the desk top apps routinely have errors, and need more configuration than your average non-geek can manage. If you want Ruby to succeed Ruby and its killer application (Which appears to be rails) must be "plug and play", for 99.9% of users. That takes care, effort and diligence. :) regards Ian p.s Did I mention I was still getting 500 errors from apache whenever I used rails. -- Ian - posting to a Newsgroup. Please remove everything to reply.