From: Randy Kramer <rhkramer@...>
Date: 2006-03-24T05:31:53+09:00
Subject: Directory structure of a Ruby installation, including the paths that should be set, etc.

Restart:

For a variety of reasons, I'm trying to get a better understanding of how a 
Ruby installation is laid out on disk.  Maybe the best way to explain what I 
mean is by giving some of the specific questions I have.  (Maybe these are 
not so much Ruby specific, but maybe generic to a typical language install.)  

BTW, this is for a Linux installation.

Statements and questions intermixed:

   * I installed Ruby 1.8.4 by compiling from the source tarball, and started 
by untar-ing it in, essentially, my home directory.  

      * Was that an appropriate place to untar?  Does it matter much, or at 
all?  (I mean, as long as I have the necessary permissions to untar and 
access the files.)

   * The ruby executable is installed in /usr/local/bin/ruby, and a bunch 
of .rb files are installed in /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/.  I didn't have any 
choice in the matter, so I assume that's a good location.

   * Many, maybe all, of those same .rb files are in what I'll call my install 
directory (tree) (in my home directory).  Now that ruby is installed can I 
delete all that stuff in my home directory (that came from untar-ing the 
tarball)?

   * If I go to install another "library" (is that the right word for 
those .rb files), specifically for the tkHTML widget, I presume I should 
install that in the /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/ directory (or a subdirectory)?

   * When I do a require, like require 'tk', the tk.rb file is looked for 
in /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/?  

   * If tk.rb were in some subdirectory of /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/ (say sub, 
for example), then the require statement to have it loaded would be require 
'sub/tk'?

   * As long as all of my library .rbs are in the /usr/local/lib/ruby/1.8/ 
tree, I don't have to set the RUBYLIB environment variable?

Well, actually, going through the questions like that, I suspect I understand 
more than I thought (assuming all or most of the answers above are yes (or 
somehow positive)).

If I'm grossly wrong, maybe it would help me to have a link to an explanation 
of how all the above should work/fit together.

Thanks,
Randy Kramer