Read This Before Installing Rails 3.1 | Hacker News Reader

Read This Before Installing Rails 3.1

railsapps.github.com

4 pointsDanielKehoe7 comments

I turned this into a shell script. It works on a fresh Ubuntu Natty install. https://gist.github.com/1007940

Has installing Rails become too complex?

Or have we become more sophisticated in the nuances of maintaining a development environment?

Installing the current, stable version of Rails hasn't ever been too complex, but trying to stay on the bleeding edge can be a bit tricky.

Using rvm certainly helps, since it can keep your gem environments separate, that too involves a bit of initial setup.

Edit: Okay, now I see you're also the author of the helpful doc. And I do agree with your comment as well. I think adding extra steps (like using RVM) do add extra time and complexity to getting a proper dev setup running, but I think it's worth it in the long run.

I started the article just so I'd have notes for myself. When I finally got it done, I was surprised at the complexity.

I don't remember past installs of the bleeding edge being as tricky. Maybe just my selective memory.

On the other hand, we've now got better tools for maintaining a working environment and troubleshooting dependencies.

The difference now is that there are clear steps to follow for success! It may seem like more steps but before you could spend hours futzing about with gem versions, then discovering that your current apps no longer ran, etc.

It is more complex than it used to be, but too complex? Our tools have finally matured to solve some of the worst problems with Ruby development (ie. monkey patching, namespace conflicts, forking to fix bugs, gem development, etc). It's definitely worth the effort.

You did an excellent job on your guide, but a lot of it looks more complex than it actually is. This guide is more than just Rails, you also walk through installing RVM & Ruby. Setting up a Ruby environment from scratch is somewhat complex. But once you understand RVM, getting started with Rails 3.1 is actually quite easy (but it's always a little more complex in the .beta and .rc releases).

Thanks for sharing this!

Thanks for your praise. I agree with your assessment.

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