Rubyinstaller devel - Dec 2008 - Non-working gems (like id3lib-ruby)

Hi Folks,

I''ve been trying out the MinGW version of Ruby and have come across a 
few gems that don''t install. Most of these, I think, are already known 
about (like hpricot), but some others perhaps aren''t. Is it worth me 
posting those that I have tried to install but had problems with, or is 
it not worth it? Should I instead contact the author of the gems directly?

The latest non-working gem I have found is id3lib-ruby.

http://id3lib-ruby.rubyforge.org/

This requires the id3lib C++ library. The author provides a precompiled 
version for Windows, and for Linux/OS X you have to install it using 
aptitude (or whatever).

http://id3lib-ruby.rubyforge.org/doc/files/INSTALL.html

In the light of Luis''s rake-compiler, what would be the best way of 
improving the installation of this gem?

Another gem that breaks under MinGW is proj4rb:

http://rubyforge.org/projects/proj4rb/

Cheers,
Charles

On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 5:16 AM, Charles Roper
<reachme at charlesroper.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
Hello Charles.
> I''ve been trying out the MinGW version of Ruby and have come
across a few
> gems that don''t install. Most of these, I think, are already known
about
> (like hpricot), but some others perhaps aren''t. Is it worth me
posting those
> that I have tried to install but had problems with, or is it not worth it?
Well, collecting a list of these gems will be helpful, maybe a
blacklist of gems and the contact information of the developer for us
to poke them? ;-)
> Should I instead contact the author of the gems directly?
Yes, indeed, and point them to integrate rake-compiler, which soon
will get the rubyforge project approved ;-)
> The latest non-working gem I have found is id3lib-ruby.
>
> http://id3lib-ruby.rubyforge.org/
>
> This requires the id3lib C++ library. The author provides a precompiled
> version for Windows, and for Linux/OS X you have to install it using
> aptitude (or whatever).
>
> http://id3lib-ruby.rubyforge.org/doc/files/INSTALL.html
>
> In the light of Luis''s rake-compiler, what would be the best way
of
> improving the installation of this gem?
>
If the project is in github, fork the project, integrate the
enhacements using rake-compiler and send a pull request to the
developer.

if they are using subversion, try to generate some patches.

Either the new RubyInstaller and the cross compiler have stdc++, so
build c++ extensions will be easy.
> Another gem that breaks under MinGW is proj4rb:
>
> http://rubyforge.org/projects/proj4rb/
>
I have no knowledge of those, but let''s add those to a black list in
the wiki?
> Cheers,
> Charles

Thank you Charles for your time on this!

-- 
Luis Lavena
AREA 17
-
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from
the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent
disinclination to do so.
Douglas Adams

Luis Lavena wrote:
>> I''ve been trying out the MinGW version of Ruby and have come
across a few
>> gems that don''t install. Most of these, I think, are already
known about
>> (like hpricot), but some others perhaps aren''t. Is it worth me
posting those
>> that I have tried to install but had problems with, or is it not worth
it?
> 
> Well, collecting a list of these gems will be helpful, maybe a
> blacklist of gems and the contact information of the developer for us
> to poke them? ;-)
OK, I''ll do that. :)
>> Should I instead contact the author of the gems directly?
> 
> Yes, indeed, and point them to integrate rake-compiler, which soon
> will get the rubyforge project approved ;-)
Gotcha. Where, for now, is the primary page for rake-compiler? Is it the 
github page?
>> http://id3lib-ruby.rubyforge.org/doc/files/INSTALL.html
>>
>> In the light of Luis''s rake-compiler, what would be the best
way of
>> improving the installation of this gem?
>>
> 
> If the project is in github, fork the project, integrate the
> enhacements using rake-compiler and send a pull request to the
> developer.
> 
> if they are using subversion, try to generate some patches.
> 
> Either the new RubyInstaller and the cross compiler have stdc++, so
> build c++ extensions will be easy.
OK, that is information I''ll pass onto the gem author.
>> Another gem that breaks under MinGW is proj4rb:
>>
>> http://rubyforge.org/projects/proj4rb/
>>
> 
> I have no knowledge of those, but let''s add those to a black list
in the wiki?
Great. What wiki should I use?
> Thank you Charles for your time on this!
Thank *you*. :)

Charles

On Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 3:30 AM, Charles Roper
<reachme at charlesroper.co.uk> wrote:
> Luis Lavena wrote:
>
>>> I''ve been trying out the MinGW version of Ruby and have
come across a few
>>> gems that don''t install. Most of these, I think, are
already known about
>>> (like hpricot), but some others perhaps aren''t. Is it
worth me posting
>>> those
>>> that I have tried to install but had problems with, or is it not
worth
>>> it?
>>
>> Well, collecting a list of these gems will be helpful, maybe a
>> blacklist of gems and the contact information of the developer for us
>> to poke them? ;-)
>
> OK, I''ll do that. :)
>
>>> Should I instead contact the author of the gems directly?
>>
>> Yes, indeed, and point them to integrate rake-compiler, which soon
>> will get the rubyforge project approved ;-)
>
> Gotcha. Where, for now, is the primary page for rake-compiler? Is it the
> github page?
>
Yay, RubyForge project got approved:

http://rubyforge.org/projects/rake-compiler/

I need to add my rubyforge release task to the project and we are set to go :-)

In any case, getting more documentation from GitHub is also a good place:

http://www.github.com/luislavena/rake-compiler
>>> http://id3lib-ruby.rubyforge.org/doc/files/INSTALL.html
>>>
>>> In the light of Luis''s rake-compiler, what would be the
best way of
>>> improving the installation of this gem?
>>>
>>
>> If the project is in github, fork the project, integrate the
>> enhacements using rake-compiler and send a pull request to the
>> developer.
>>
>> if they are using subversion, try to generate some patches.
>>
>> Either the new RubyInstaller and the cross compiler have stdc++, so
>> build c++ extensions will be easy.
>
> OK, that is information I''ll pass onto the gem author.
>
>>> Another gem that breaks under MinGW is proj4rb:
>>>
>>> http://rubyforge.org/projects/proj4rb/
>>>
>>
>> I have no knowledge of those, but let''s add those to a black
list in the
>> wiki?
>
> Great. What wiki should I use?
>
RubyInstaller Wiki:

http://rubyinstaller.rubyforge.org/wiki/wiki.pl

Let''s create a new section "Blacklisted gems" and start
collecting
both gem names, project pages and authors ;-)
>> Thank you Charles for your time on this!
>
> Thank *you*. :)
>
:-)

-- 
Luis Lavena
AREA 17
-
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from
the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent
disinclination to do so.
Douglas Adams