From: Benedikt Heinen <ruby@...>
Date: 2006-07-25T00:08:23+09:00
Subject: Re: RubyGems or packages or both?

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006, Roman Hausner wrote:

> I am puzzled as to what the recommended way to install packages (from
> the point of view of Ruby developers) should be: RubyGems or
> distribution-specific (Linux)packages for each (Ruby)package?
>
> I am asking because Ubuntu "deliberately" does not include RubyGems as a
> (Linux) package, arguing that (Ruby) packages should always be installed
> using the (Linux) packaging system (apt-get etc) instead of RubyGems.
> They argue that using RubyGems would inevitably break things.
>
> Is it known what the opinion of Ruby developers and expert Ruby users is
> on this?

I'm using rubygems on ubuntu, which works fine.

In terms of what the ubuntu people (and likely other dists) are saying, is 
that it is hard to cleanly integrate rubygems into the debian system, when 
it comes to, say, the user installing debian packages that might depend on 
some rubygems.

e.g. assume you might want to install a rails app, that comes as a stock 
ubuntu package - if you install your ubuntu from dvd to a machine that 
does not (currently) have a network connection, ubuntu can't access your 
rubygem  (while, presumably, if it was another ubuntu package, you'd have 
it on the same dvd you're installing ubuntu from).

Worse yet, even if you managed to install the package, there is nothing 
stopping you from de-installing a rubygem, without apt-get or dpkg (the 
debian package managers) even knowing about it, i.e. you'd break an 
installed ubuntu package, without the ubuntu package manager having any 
idea what might have happened.



I'm happy with just having my own local gem repository; YMMV...




Benedikt

   ALLIANCE, n.  In international politics, the union of two thieves who
     have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that
     they cannot separately plunder a third.
 			(Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary)