[csw-users] pending ruby updates

[Ben Walton]

Hi All,

In the next few days, I'm going to release an update to the ruby
packages.  There are a few user visible changes in this batch, so
early feedback is welcomed.

1. Binaries are going to be suffixed 18 to denote the 1.8 ruby branch.
2. Alternatives is going to be used to determine what
   /opt/csw/bin/{ruby,irb,etc} refer to (the 18 version by default).
3. The cswrbconfig tool is being phased out in favour of alternatives
   (using the name rbconfig18).  To get the gcc4 version, you'll need
   to add the CSWruby18-gcc4 package.
4. The old package names CSWruby, etc are turning into stub packages
   that depend on the newer names to provide a smooth transition.

The pending updates can be retrieved from:
http://buildfarm.opencsw.org/experimental.html#ruby-dublin

These changes are hopefully transparent, but there is one area that
may cause you grief.  The old CSWlibruby1 package is going to remain
on your systems in case something external is linked to it.  The new
package will be CSWlibruby18 and it delivers a library with a
different SONAME.

I don't have anything on my own systems that breaks with this change,
but maybe you do?  I'm interested in hearing whether or not you've
built anything locally against the old library and if you think there
is anything extra that I can do to make this transition easier.

The rationale for the transition is two-fold.

1. We want to make it trivial to provide both ruby 1.8 and ruby 1.9 on
   systems as there is increasing demand.
2. We want to be able to easily package gems for both versions which
   means we need versioned names for package dependencies.

As always, suggestions/criticisms accepted.

Thanks
-Ben
--
Ben Walton
Systems Programmer - CHASS
University of Toronto
C:416.407.5610 | W:416.978.4302