[DRE-maint] Bug#448639: Taking this to the CTTE?

[Tim Olsen]

On 08/28/2010 03:31 PM, Tollef Fog Heen wrote:
> 
> Hi Daigo,
> 
> using /var/lib/gems is really quite annoying, and I have meant to write
> something along the lines of what Clint Byrum wrote a few messages ago.
> Sure, using /usr/local isn't ideal, but that's a choice that's up to the
> local system administrator; 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.  The
> lack of consistency with what CPAN does is also annoying as we're making
> a distribution, not just packaging a bunch of software.

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.

Tim