Useful irc transcript

so... lets say you have a clients production machine running 1.8.7 (system ruby only)... and you want to go to 1.9.3 (Ubuntu 10.04)... would you tend to A) upgrade the system ruby or B) use rvm / rbenv / chruby ? answers on a postcard to #nzruby appreciated ;) I wouldn't use rvm/rbenv/chruby in production. psdavey I would install a version manager because it will make your life so much eaiser going forward and for general use. I generally never ever use system Ruby. #nzrubypostcard Are you using passenger? Or unicorn? Or similar? Caveat: I don't manage any production systems, I just use Heroku or similar. the client is using passenger psdavey: I use rvm psdavey: https://launchpad.net/~brightbox/+archive/ubuntu/ruby-ng :D well, I use whatever the client uses I have a rvm + passenger setup why so strong kale on not using rvm etc. It's what I've heard I was just wondering about the reasons (it seems one less moving part, and a major one at that) <jon_r> psdavey if using ubuntu, use brightbox's ruby packages I'd prefer to package ruby myself than install the build dependencies on a prod machine. kaleworsley: that's a good point <jon_r> you still often need build dependencies due to gems <jon_r> I prefer to use packaged rubies because it's more immutable Yeah, true. But I still prefer to install the minimum. I've used the brightbox stuff in production for quite some time without any issue. noob question here.. but https://launchpad.net/~brightbox/+archive/ubuntu/ruby-ng adds to the apt-get sources right? So you can then just apt-get install ruby-2.1 or whatever. You then just nuke the installed 1.8.7 ? So "I'd prefer to package ruby myself than install the build dependencies on a prod machine.", the brightbox ppa effectively gives you the binaries does it? So no build dependencies required? (apologies if these are silly / obvious questions, my devops could use some work). psdavey: jon_r's point still stands even if you can get ruby binaries <jon_r> psdavey yep you're likely to need build-deps to compile native extensions on gems <jon_r> add the source, upgrade the ruby <jon_r> You can avoid build dependencies if you stick to a minimal gem set <jon_r> it just depends on what you're doing <jon_r> I don't know of a way to pre install built gems, vendoring may work but only if the system vendoring is the same as prod what about building on a stage server and then pushing the resulting binaries to production? aren't there tools for that? would allow to use rvm or what not and still avoid devtools on production <jon_r> shrug, I've never seen them and still wouldn't use rvm for that <jon_r> I've seen people build their own .deb's to deploy dependencies <jon_r> not done it myself tho that's another way and you are probably right about rvm since the main advantage to allow switching should not be needed on a production server obviously we'll be testing the hell out of this (that said, legacy codebase etc.)... however.. the fact that the box itself has quite a bit installed on it (god managing processes etc.) would that influence the use of rvm rather than upgrading system ruby. My co-worker is more inclined to use rvm as it means if things Go Horribly Wrong it's easier to switch back (which seems like a reasonble argument to me!) psdavey: this is exactly the case when I use rvm - other stakeholders on the server If it was my own fresh box I would certainly use the Bright Box PPA - definitely seems like the way to go.. I'm just wondering whether the legacy aspect would / should be an influence. if there is anything else that depends on the installed ruby? one time someone upgraded system ruby on a client server without letting me know needless to say, their rails app did not work for long right.. it's the one stakeholder (and the one app)... God uses ruby eMBee better don't meddle in gods affairs :)