[DRE-maint] Bug#448639: Debian Bugs information: detailed logs for Bug#448639

[Clint Byrum]

On Aug 30, 2010, at 8:21 AM, Tim Olsen wrote:

> On 08/28/2010 03:31 PM, Tollef Fog Heen wrote:
>> 
>>  what you're effectively doing is just
>> forcing people to jump through a hoop and having to add
>> /var/lib/gems/bin to the default path, which is really quite silly.  
> 
> Actually, the directory to add to your PATH is
> /var/lib/gems/RUBY_VERSION/bin.  I'm saying this not to split hairs, but
> to point out that the current system allows some flexibility with regard
> to Ruby 1.8 and 1.9.1.  I can install gems for both 1.8 and 1.9.1 and
> then switch easily between the two by changing my PATH.  How do you
> propose allowing for executables for both Ruby 1.8 and Ruby 1.9.1
> versions of the same gem to be installed simultaneously if all gem
> executables are going into /usr/local/bin ?   I think this is currently
> an important issue as both Ruby 1.8 and 1.9.x are actively used and it
> appears that it's going to take a while until 1.9.x is widely adopted.
> 

Hi Tim, thanks for your insight on this,

This is an interesting limitation of the proposal to move things to
/usr/local/bin. I'm not sure its something Debian should try and solve
though.

As Adam Jacob pointed out earlier, the docs for any given gem are
written in such a way that they expect these binaries in the path. So
consequently, the authors of the gems will expect that the binaries will
conflict between gem1.8 and gem1.9.

rubygems is not an end user tool, it is a development tool. As such,
it has sharp jagged edges that let you do things like this. I'm all
for making sure users are protected from themselves, but gaining root
privileges means you are taking responsibility for your actions, meaning
you should read through the docs of the the things you're running and
understand the gems you're installing.

Its cool that right now there's no conflict between 1.8 and 1.9 installed
gems. I'm sure its saved a few users from themselves. However, it has
confused many, many more users and left the ruby dev community frustrated,
so while I see the merit in leaving it as it is, I see more merit in
changing it.