# Best Linux Distro for Ruby? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 2, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188 "2011-01-02T03:41:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![luislavena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@luislavena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/luislavena)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/1 "2011-01-02T03:41:00Z")
What are some of the better linux distro’s for ruby development? I know some seem to have crippled packages or missing current versions and such. I am just looking for a solid linux distro to install so i can really get to know Ruby. Thanks, -Nick ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/2 "2011-01-02T03:46:01Z")
On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 10:40 AM, Nick H. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > What are some of the better linux distro’s for ruby development? I know some > seem to have crippled packages or missing current versions and such. I am > just looking for a solid linux distro to install so i can really get to know > Ruby. Use RVM to manage your ruby versions, then you’ll find all the Linux distro are same for Ruby development. If you’re newbie to Linux, use ubuntu 10.10 will be a good choice. – Twitter: @ghosTM55 > **[Thomas Yao](https://www.facebook.com/ghosThomas)** > > Thomas Yao is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Thomas Yao and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Mechanism, not policy ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 6:57am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/3 "2011-01-02T06:57:35Z")
I’ve got rvm set up on Funtoo, Mac OSX and FreeBSD. Funtoo portage, Darwin ports, and FreeBSD ports of ruby 1.8.7 and 1.9.2 are up to date and work as expected. FreeBSD is set up with multiple jails with both system based ruby and rvm installed. If your worried about what you call crippled packages consider using a source based OS or just use rvm to build the source for you. ~ ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 11:23am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/4 "2011-01-02T11:23:06Z")
On Jan 2, 5:44am, Thomas Y. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 10:40 AM, Nick H. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > If you’re newbie to Linux, use ubuntu 10.10 will be a good choice. > Or kubuntu 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/5 "2011-01-03T03:51:27Z")
Hi, I use Debian sid, and see no problem developing in Ruby. ``` matz. ``` In message “Re: Best Linux Distro for Ruby?” on Sun, 2 Jan 2011 11:40:20 +0900, Nick H. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) writes: | |What are some of the better linux distro’s for ruby development? I know |some seem to have crippled packages or missing current versions and such. |I am just looking for a solid linux distro to install so i can really get |to know Ruby. |Thanks, |-Nick ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/6 "2011-01-03T18:13:10Z")
Nick H. wrote in post #971817: > What are some of the better linux distro’s for ruby development? I know > some seem to have crippled packages or missing current versions and > such. > I am just looking for a solid linux distro to install so i can really > get > to know Ruby. > Thanks, > -Nick I’ve been using Arch Linux and Ruby 1.9.2 for development, and also have some sites deployed on Rackspace without any problems. I originally came to Arch from FreeBSD. ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/7 "2011-01-09T23:10:15Z")
I think Ubuntu is a little confusing to new Ruby developers. I personally wouldn’t recommend it. Some things that bug me about it (coming from a Windows background using Ruby) 1. Ubuntu has a Ruby 1.9.1 package that you can install, which is really Ruby 1.9.2 but when you install it using Synaptic Package Manager the system also installs Ruby 1.8.7 and then requires you to fiddle with the symbolic links on the path of Gem and Ruby executables. Also, the --update flag for ruby commands wont work if you install that way. Its annoying. 2. RVM may be the way to go but Ubuntu doesn’t have a default package for installing it via Synaptic Package Manager. Another annoyance. So, im investigating other distros. My guess is that astandard install of Debian will be the way to go. Fedora seemed a little behind the times on providing recent packages also. If I am going to use RVM then I’ll use a system which seems to expect it . ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/8 "2011-01-10T02:03:15Z")
On Sun, Jan 9, 2011 at 4:10 PM, Jon W. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > If I am going to use RVM then I’ll use a system which seems to expect it Hello djangofan! Nothing wrong with a software developer looking up and installing some dependencies once in awhile. rvm is simply a set of bash scripts. does it matter if you install it via git directly or synaptic. ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/9 "2011-01-03T21:03:00Z")
Nick H. wrote in post #971817: > What are some of the better linux distro’s for ruby development? I use Ubuntu, everything’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/10 "2011-01-10T03:56:00Z")
Jon …Ubuntu is little good call for begginers…but if u want developer seriously I recommend a light distro like Arch or Debian XFCE…But is just my favorites…keep going with ubuntu and lear something about the package system and search in google . 2011/1/9 Stu [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/11 "2011-01-10T13:53:32Z")
If you go with Debian, please check out sid distribution. Sid is more experimental than standard but has mono-vbnc available while standard doesn’t. I once had sid running for nearly two years with no problems. ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/12 "2011-01-10T16:26:20Z")
On Jan 9, 10:10pm, “Jon W.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > 1. RVM may be the way to go but Ubuntu doesn’t have a default package > for installing it via Synaptic Package Manager. Another annoyance. > > So, im investigating other distros. My guess is that astandard install > of Debian will be the way to go. Fedora seemed a little behind the > times on providing recent packages also. > > If I am going to use RVM then I’ll use a system which seems to expect it > Hi Jon, I’ve got a CentOS 5 server running Ruby 1.9.2 no problem. The only package available is 1.8.5, so I needed to build from source, but it’s straighforward enough. (I’m from Windows, moved to Linux a few months ago knowing nothing about 'nix - a little investigation with; a few good books, and mostly googling, got me the information required to build from source with required dependencies installed first.) I also have Ubuntu 10.04 and 10.10 locally with RVM installed on both and running different Ruby versions with different Gem’s. Everything works fine. I want to try to build from source on Ubuntu - because I want to learn, (I’ve decided Windows is crap (especially for ruby) IMHO since moving to \*nix - but in the meantime, RVM is ideal for me on Ubuntu. Best Paul ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/13 "2011-01-13T19:40:50Z")
Check out ArchLinux, their package is pretty much pristine and tracks 1.9 (current 1.9.2-p136) 2011/1/13 meaglith [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid): ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/14 "2011-01-13T19:59:42Z")
I have installed Ruby, Rails, and related dependencies on Ubuntu 10.04, 10.10 and ArchLinux. ArchLinux was a bit easier. I ended up purging everything I had installed from the Ubuntu repositories and just relied solely on RVM. Regardless of the distro I believe using RVM is a good course of action. Not only for being able to switch between versions, but because it has many more useful features available. You can still use your distro’s package manger and repositories, but RVM’s sole purpose is really a ruby/rails package manager, so is more feature rich in terms of how you install/manage ruby/rails. I guess my opinion here would be to stick with whatever distro you like… and rely on RVM. Culley On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 12:40 PM, Jonas P. (zimbatm) \< ---
**Author:** ![nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@nickh](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nickh)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-linux-distro-for-ruby/201188/15 "2011-01-13T14:33:25Z")
## Gentoo is good choice. I install ruby 1.9.2 from source code. ## Blog: [http://douhua.im](http://douhua.im) Twitter: [http://twitter.com/genedna](http://twitter.com/genedna) Website: [http://douhua.im](http://douhua.im)