Creating a symbolic link within a Rails application?

Rails
1

Hi, how does one create a symbolic link within a Rails application? At
this
time, I can perform this action at the command line but I’m not sure how
to
do it within Rails. BTW, I’m doing the following command in Mac OS X:

ln -s $SITE_ROOT/common_directory/* $SITE_ROOT/new_directory

Thanks in advance,

-Conrad

2

See the ruby command:

system

or better yet:

File.symlink

–
– Tom M.

3

Hello,

I am working for a startup internet company and we are about to begin
developing our software, however the question of which language and
platform to use is coming up. In my opinion (and the other
developers), Ruby with Ruby on Rails is the ideal solution, however
the investors are pushing for java saying “let’s use something that
has been tried and proven over and over again”.

I’m working on putting together a solid argument for ruby on rails,
does anybody have any suggestions or comments that could help me?

Thanks
Carl L.

4

Was going to say the same thing. Include Odeo. Also talk about time
to market. I believe 37Signals said 3 months for Campfire, two
developers. I’m actually surprised this is the response you’re
getting. Whenever I’m dealing with startups I usually get, let’s do
Ajax, that Rails thing, lots of curvy corners and 18pt Helvetica. Oh,
by the way did we mention Ajax.

Good luck.

Michael

5

Carl L. wrote:

Hello,

I am working for a startup internet company and we are about to begin
developing our software, however the question of which language and
platform to use is coming up. In my opinion (and the other
developers), Ruby with Ruby on Rails is the ideal solution, however
the investors are pushing for java saying “let’s use something that
has been tried and proven over and over again”.

I’m working on putting together a solid argument for ruby on rails,
does anybody have any suggestions or comments that could help me?

Thanks
Carl L.

You could point to successful Rails applications like Basecamp,
Backpack, Campfire, 43things, CD Baby, and Penny Arcade.

Jeff

6

Check out the documents under “Why Ruby” at the top of
http://www.ruby-doc.org/ . Besides Ruby, several also focus on Rails.

Good luck!

7

Carl L. wrote:

does anybody have any suggestions or comments that could help me?
My suggestion would be to do it the way the guy with the bag of nickels
wants it to be done. :slight_smile:

Seriously, though, how important is the financing from the investors in
your business plan? Do you really need the financing, or can you bang
together a prototype in Rails before asking for money?

–
M. Edward (Ed) Borasky

8

Wow, you must be one helluva business man to get money without any
actual
software.

-hampton.

9

Well, the fact is that I have a lot of invested interest in the
company and I feel that the extra cost associated with going with
java would hurt the company in it’s early days.

Getting a prototype done with rails might be possible if I ever have
time to devote to working on it. We have been planning to outsource
to a development company to get the code done which is why capital is
important.

-carl

10

Not really - that’s been the case with every startup I’ve been involved
in.

What investors want to see is a business model they can understand,
financial projections they can believe, and a group of people
committed to do anything necessary to meet those projections.

Any investor with a clue knows that application development is easy
when you’ve got those things in place.

Regards

Dave M.

11

Carl L. wrote:

does anybody have any suggestions or comments that could help me?
I’d go with the ‘We can knock this up in Rails as a prototype far faster
than in Java, and port once we’ve worked out the kinks’ route. Chances
are that once you’ve got the prototype working, they won’t see the need
to redevelop, and even if they subsequently do insist on it, you’ve
still saved a bunch of time getting the details hammered out and
familiarising everyone with the problem scope.

12

Yes, I am becoming convinced that a prototype seems like a good way
to go. The software specification is almost complete at this point.
I’ve actually put together quite a document outlining the pros and
cons of everything and put it in terms of money, which should really
be the most important thing for the investor.

We’ll see what happens.

-carl

PS, as stated before, getting money for a well thought out idea is
quite possible… with a lot of effort.

13

If you’re going to write a prototype in Rails, make sure it’s actually
a prototype. I know your ultimate goal here is to go with Rails
instead of Java anyway, but you have to approach the prototype as a
quick demonstration of the app’s architecture, and be able to toss the
whole thing when you’re done. If they say “wow, that’s really cool”
then you can go ahead and do it in Rails, starting over and doing it
the “right way.”

If you don’t do that, and build the prototype with the primary
intention of creating “the” app, then you’ll spend lots of time
writing unnecessary production code that may get scapped when the
investors say, “That’s cool, now do it in Java.”

You can rewrite the actual app using the knowledge gained from the
prototype extremely quickly. If you’re lucky and the investors let
you go with Rails, you’ll have to explain to them that the first app
was just a prototype and would be crappy if used in production,
because it was simply a proof of concept. I might not even tell them
anyway…starting over would only cost a couple days more, and if they
want to go with Java they’re clearly prepared to dedicate way more
time than is reasonable :slight_smile:

Pat

14

Carl L. wrote:

Getting a prototype done with rails might be possible if I ever have
time to devote to working on it. We have been planning to outsource to a
development company to get the code done which is why capital is important.

To outsource the development, you would need some kind of specification.
How are you planning to address that?

If you started with a host with Subversion and Rails you could build a
prototype with whatever breadth and depth seemed appropriate to act as
part of a specification (anything from static HTML to a full app), and
have the flexibility to evolve it and to involve an outside developer.

Your investors might be prepared to believe that Rails is the most
cost-effective way to develop and prove the concept, deferring a
decision on the production technology.

regards

Justin

15

I like the way you think :).

Pat M. wrote:

writing unnecessary production code that may get scapped when the

Pat

–
M. Edward (Ed) Borasky