From: Igal Koshevoy <igal@...>
Date: 2008-06-29T10:54:49+09:00
Subject: Re: Ruby 1.9.0/1.8.7/1.8.6/1.8.5 new releases (Security Fix)

Jason Crystal wrote:
> 4. Then compile per usual. Ex:
> $ ./configure
> $ make
> $ sudo make install
>   
Jason, thanks for the explanation. However, I'd argue against that last 
step. Doing step 4 like that will put the files directly into the user's 
/usr/local hierarchy, which will make removing or upgrading that versino 
difficult.

I'd strongly recommend that you use GNU Stow 
[http://www.gnu.org/software/stow/manual.html] and change the steps to:

$ ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/stow/ruby-1.8.6p230smartleaf
$ make
$ sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/stow
$ sudo make install
$ sudo stow -d /usr/local/stow ruby-1.8.6p230smartleaf

With those commands, you'll end up with a symlink at /usr/local/bin/ruby 
that points to the installed version deeper within the /usr/local/stow 
hierarchy.

Using stow will let you easily install, uninstall and switch between 
versions of a compiled applications.

-igal

PS: Another good alternative is to use Ruby Enterprise Edition 
[http://rubyenterpriseedition.com/] which already includes the patches 
and installs itself by default into directory within /opt.