Curt Hibbs
2004-Aug-10 10:27 UTC
[Rubyinstaller-devel] Ruby Installer for OS X [was: Which version of Ruby is most widely used?]
Stephen Steiner wrote:> > I''d be interested in working on a .pkg (one-click installer) for OS X. > > What''s the next step?Fantastic! I think you will find this to be a very rewarding experience. The Ruby Installer for Windows has been wildly popular (its the #1 download on RubyForge), and I think that the use and adoption of Ruby will really benefit from an OS X installer (and, eventually, a Linux installer). BACKGROUND The basic concept of the installer is to create a complete ruby development environment out-of-the-box. This means: - Ruby - A decent syntax highlighting editor - Documentation (installed stuff, and links to ruby-doc.org) - Start Menu shortcuts to everything (whatever these are called on OS X) - System file associations for .rb and .rbw (whatever this is called on OS X) - A set a precompiled/installed ruby extensions My long term strategy is to minimize the Ruby extensions that we physically package with the installer, but include an upcoming GUI-based RubyGems Browser that let''s the user pick and choose what extensions he wants installed (either initially, and any time later on). WHAT TO DO Eventually, the Ruby Installer for OS X should have an automated build script that will build all of the pieces and do the packaging. But initially (until we "get it right"), I would just do manual build and packaging. 1) Subscribe to the ruby installer developer''s mailing list so that we can carry on there. http://rubyforge.org/mail/?group_id=167 2) The first step would be to hand-create a initial version of the OS X installer containing: - Ruby 1.8.2 preview 2 - Editor - Select Ruby extensions - Documentation - System shortcuts and file associations I''ll go into more detail about the above list in just a moment. 3) Give the prototype installer to some hand-selected users for testing. 4) Fix problems revealed in step 3 and post a release-candidate to the general ruby community. 5) Fix problems revealed in step 4 and post a final release. 6) Create an automated build script to reproduce what you have done by hand. NOTES - I can handle most of he administrative tasks while you work on the installer, itself. - Editor: It would be really nice if SciTE could be used on OS X, but I don''t think there is a port that is ready -- the closest I''ve found is http://mailman.lyra.org/pipermail/scintilla-interest/2004-June/004685.html - - If we can''t use SciTE, then what would be an appropriate alternative? - Extensions: Below is a subset of the list extensions included with the windows installer (I left out the windows-specific extensions and some others). These should be included as well as anything that might be considered standard or essential on OS X: - Tcl/Tk - Help (probably links to ruby-doc.org) - FXRuby (plus GLUT and OpenGL) There are no OS X binaries for this, but I''ll contact Lyle Johnson to see if he could create some (he''s done this before). - html-parser - zlib-lib - ZLib - Ruby-DBI (is this windows-specific?) and whatever DBD''s would be common for OS X - RubyMock - log4r While you are working on the OS X installer. I would: - Contact Lyle Johnson about getting OS X binaries for FXRuby - Contact Andy Hunt to see if there is a PDF version of the PickAxe book that could be installed on OS X. - Change the name of our RubyForge project from "Ruby Installer for Windows" to just "Ruby Installer" - Add you as a develop in the Ruby Installer project. - Update the Ruby Installer wiki and reflect the new multi-platform goals of the project. - Rename our existing CVS module from "installer" to "installer-win" (in preparation for adding an "installer-osx" module. =========== Wheew! Ok, now that I''ve thoroughly scared you off... ;-) Just send me a confirmation that you want to do this, and I''ll start on my tasks. Thanks, Curt
hi guys, I tried the latest rc candidate, and discovered that ri did not work (module not found errors). I''m on my way out the door to California for a few days, but thought you might want to know... thanks! p.s. I''m *very* excited to hear about a Mac OS version. Best of luck on that! /\ndy -- Andrew Hunt, The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC. voice: 919-847-3884 fax: 919-844-5133 web: http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com email: andy@pragmaticprogrammer.com
Andrew Hunt wrote:> > hi guys, > > I tried the latest rc candidate, and discovered that ri did not work > (module not found errors).Hmm... it worked for me (limited testing). Can tell me specifically what you did to get the errors?> I''m on my way out the door to California for a few days, but thought you > might want to know... > > thanks! > > p.s. > > I''m *very* excited to hear about a Mac OS version. Best of luck on > that!Me, too! Curt
On Tue, 2004-08-10 at 10:40, Curt Hibbs wrote:> Hmm... it worked for me (limited testing). Can tell me specifically what you > did to get the errors?Just ran ri -- it looked like there were parts missing. I don''t have that machine handy right now, but if I can get to it before my flight I''ll try and get you the exact error. thanks. /\ndy