From: Jeff Wood <jeff.darklight@...>
Date: 2005-11-21T16:13:09+09:00
Subject: Re: Best OS for Ruby Dev/Best OS for Ruby Hosting

Also, remember that there are still a large number of us *ix users
that prefer to roll our own, and regardless of the packaging system
provided by the OS, I'm gonna go get & compile for myself... I prefer
things that way... Then I know what I have and where I've put it.

I've never had a lick of trouble with a system I setup this way... my
mileage with OS provided packages, unfortunately don't hold that same
quality.

...

j.

On 11/20/05, Aaron Kulbe <akulbe@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Lots of people happen to like FreeBSD for its Ruby support. One of its
> > major system utilities, portupgrade, is written in Ruby, so that's one
> > neat aspect. I'd recommend staying away from Gentoo: I prefer
> > source-based OSs, but Gentoo just breaks too often for it to be worth
> > it. Also, Gentoo users are on the whole jerkyer and less helpful than
> > normal people.
>
> (I'd like to start out by apologizing first, gentlemen.  this is
> certainly off-topic, but needs to be said)
>
> Well Jacob, you succeed in communicating four things in your reply here.
>
> 1. you say Gentoo is prone to be broken
> 2. you say Gentoo users are jerks
> 3. you say Gentoo users are less helpful
> 4. you say Gentoo users are not normal
>
> As a Gentoo user, and a Gentoo developer... I'd like to say that I'm
> rather disturbed, maybe even slightly offended, at your remarks.  We
> work hard to make the distribution good.  And I'd like to say that the
> users bear some responsibility in how well their systems run.
>
> If you want to build your system with an insane set of CFLAGS and USE
> flags, then I think problems that result are your own fault.
>
> You say Gentoo users are jerkyer [sic] than other users.  I beg to
> differ.  A jerk is a jerk, and it matters not what distro the said
> jerk wants to use.  People with the kind of attitude I'm sure you're
> referring to are unbecoming to the entire Linux community.  Gentoo
> does not have the corner on this market, and it's unfair to say so.
>
> Gentoo users are less helpful?  I'm sorry, but this is utter crap.  It
> was this one thing that attracted me to the distribution in the first
> place, before any of its technical merits.  I can personally vouch for
> this.  I had a very frustrating experience early on, when I started to
> use Gentoo.  I kept hitting a wall and was ready to give up.  I had
> one of the developers help me, personally, to figure out the issues I
> was having.  This took a period of hours, and I was ready to pay him
> for his time.  He flatly refused, and asked only one thing in return -
> that I never again say I was going to give up on Gentoo.  I didn't.
> Question - do you think we're less helpful because you come into
> #gentoo and ask a question, and don't get an answer *immediately*?  If
> that's the case, keep in mind it's a VERY busy channel.  And try
> idling there, and remember... /lastlog is your friend.
>
>
> By saying Gentoo users are jerkyer [sic] than normal people, you make
> us out to be abnormal.  Care to explain that one?  We're no different
> than anyone else.  I just enjoy a little more control over my chosen
> distribution.  Does that make one abnormal?  I think not.
>
> Now... on to the Ruby business.  Keep in mind, there is admittedly a
> bit of bias here, but I'm laying out all the cards.  I think Gentoo is
> an excellent distribution to host from, and do Ruby work from.  It
> might require more dedication on your part.  Gentoo is hands-on.  But
> it's really good for people who like to tinker.  Good luck.
>


--
"Remember. Understand. Believe. Yield! -> http://ruby-lang.org"

Jeff Wood