# Debian notes for Ruby newbies (like me)

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/debian-notes-for-ruby-newbies-like-me/111927>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [August 13, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/debian-notes-for-ruby-newbies-like-me/111927 "2007-08-13T16:16:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![EVman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@EVman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/EVman)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/debian-notes-for-ruby-newbies-like-me/111927/1 "2007-08-13T16:16:17Z")

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This is probably a known issue by regulars, but I will post it for Ruby  
newbies using Debian. I have tested the following several times on a  
fresh new install of Debian Etch just to make sure that the problem  
wasn’t  
particular to my two year old Sarge.

The apt install process is really hoked up with the Ruby stuff. Ruby  
and  
Gems installs ok but don’t run immediately. Ruby itself installs as  
ruby1.8 but the paths are set to call just ruby. Either simlink to the  
proper name or change the name of the executable or shebang it.

Also the executable is installed in /usr/bin but the paths are set to  
/usr/local/bin. Again you either have to move it or simlink it or add to  
the path.

Gems installs ok but gives an “in `require’: no such file to load”.  
This  
is because the package maintainers forgot to include zlibc in the  
package.  
Strange because Debian packages seldom have this kind of error. Apt-get  
it and gems should start working.

For some reason, libtk-ruby may or may not be included by something that  
I  
haven’t tracked down yet. Sometimes it is already there even though I  
didn’t install anything related to TK. But if you want to run Ruby-TK,  
just manually apt-get it.

I assume that the above will affect both Sarge and Etch, and the various  
flavors of Debian like Knoppix and Ubuntu.

EVMan

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EVman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@EVman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/EVman)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/debian-notes-for-ruby-newbies-like-me/111927/2 "2007-08-13T17:16:27Z")

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EVman wrote:

> This is probably a known issue by regulars, but I will post it for Ruby  
> newbies using Debian. I have tested the following several times on a  
> fresh new install of Debian Etch just to make sure that the problem wasn’t  
> particular to my two year old Sarge.
> 
> The apt install process is really hoked up with the Ruby stuff. Ruby and  
> Gems installs ok but don’t run immediately. Ruby itself installs as  
> ruby1.8 but the paths are set to call just ruby. Either simlink to the  
> proper name or change the name of the executable or shebang it.

This is so that you can run multiple versions. You need the ruby  
metapackage which sets up the symlink for you (and can be changed with  
the debian alternatives system).

$ dpkg -S `which ruby`  
ruby: /usr/bin/ruby

> Also the executable is installed in /usr/bin but the paths are set to  
> /usr/local/bin. Again you either have to move it or simlink it or add to  
> the path.

I haven’t run into this (I have /usr/local/bin in my path so I wouldn’t  
notice), but if it’s true it’s certainly a bug in the package. If you  
haven’t already done so please submit it via the debian bugtracking  
system.

> Gems installs ok but gives an “in `require’: no such file to load”. This  
> is because the package maintainers forgot to include zlibc in the package.  
> Strange because Debian packages seldom have this kind of error. Apt-get  
> it and gems should start working.

Again, please submit to the debian package maintainers. But frankly, I  
find mixing gems and debs to be highly unwise at best. I recommend  
sticking with one or the other, and my own choice is to use gems and  
manual installs for ruby, as I do with other things where I live on the  
cutting edge. I install ruby from apt, but everything else I do “the  
ruby way”.

> For some reason, libtk-ruby may or may not be included by something that I  
> haven’t tracked down yet. Sometimes it is already there even though I  
> didn’t install anything related to TK. But if you want to run Ruby-TK,  
> just manually apt-get it.

Here’s a horror story - in the old days the entire ruby standard lib was  
split up into dozens of packages. Makes me shudder just remembering it.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EVman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@EVman](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/EVman)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/debian-notes-for-ruby-newbies-like-me/111927/3 "2007-08-13T18:32:36Z")

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> Again, please submit to the debian package maintainers. But frankly, I  
> find mixing gems and debs to be highly unwise at best. I recommend  
> sticking with one or the other, and my own choice is to use gems and

Yep. I am putting together a submission to the package folks, but I  
want  
to validate my findings first - really well. Since I have replicated  
the  
errors on three different machines I am pretty sure of the bug(s), but I  
will have a friend try to poke holes in my theories tonight.

What bothers me is that I can get the same errors on a Sarge being fed  
from a local mirror that is almost 8 months old. So why am I the first  
one to catch the so-called errors in all that time? That is the item  
that  
keeps making me think that I am screwing up somewhere.

EVMan