# Gem or plugin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [September 29, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-or-plugin/176358 "2009-09-29T15:19:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elliottg)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-or-plugin/176358/1 "2009-09-29T15:19:15Z")
I have never packaged any code for a Rails app before. I have read a fair amount about differences between Gems and Rails plugins, but I was wanting to get some other opinions. I have a small cms I have built. As far as what I need to package… it’s basically just a few generators. Here’s a few details. - The app is rails dependent. - At least for a while, it will not be open source but hopefully will be at some point. So what would you guys do. Gem or plugin? Thanks, Elliott ---
**Author:** ![elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elliottg)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-or-plugin/176358/2 "2009-09-29T15:36:18Z")
Elliott G. wrote: > I have never packaged any code for a Rails app before. I have read a > fair amount about differences between Gems and Rails plugins, but I > was wanting to get some other opinions. > > I have a small cms I have built. As far as what I need to package… > it’s basically just a few generators. Here’s a few details. > > - The app is rails dependent. > - At least for a while, it will not be open source but hopefully will > be at some point. How do you propose to distribute a gem or plugin without exposing the source? > So what would you guys do. Gem or plugin? Probably neither. It sounds like a standalone Rails app, so just do it that way. > Thanks, Elliott ## Best, Marnen Laibow-Koser [http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elliottg)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-or-plugin/176358/3 "2009-09-29T16:01:59Z")
On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 3:36 PM, Marnen Laibow-Koser [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > - At least for a while, it will not be open source but hopefully will > > be at some point. > > How do you propose to distribute a gem or plugin without exposing the > source? If you don’t wanna expose the source and you need to distribute the app, you should look for some “encryptor” if there is such a thing. Ruby is an interpreted language, at least 1.8.x. Either you decide to distribute the application as a plugin or a gem, you will need to distribute the source since those are the files that get executed. – Leonardo M… There’s no place like ~ ---
**Author:** ![elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elliottg)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-or-plugin/176358/4 "2009-09-29T18:09:04Z")
It may have been a bit misleading to mention open source. By it not being open source, I meant that the remote repo where the package will live will be private. I may open it up to the public at some point. The only reason I mentioned that, is because I thought that info may help make the decision to make a Gem or plugin better informed. Basically, I just want to package my code so I can easily include it in my custom Rails templates when building out a new cms powered app. The basic question is do you guys prefer to package code as a Gem or plugin these days? I hear a lot about Gems being preferred, but just curious what your thoughts are. Thanks heaps, EG On Sep 29, 10:17 am, Rob B. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@elliottg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elliottg)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/gem-or-plugin/176358/5 "2009-09-29T16:19:33Z")
On Sep 29, 2009, at 10:00 AM, Leonardo M. wrote: > > > - The app is rails dependent. > > > distribute the application as a plugin or a gem, you will need to > > > distribute the source since those are the files that get executed. > > – > Leonardo M… > There’s no place like ~ It sounds like you want your little cms to be a plugin. In any case you want to “install” it for a given Rails application, so dropping something into …/vendor/plugins/… gives you a place to put initializers, rake tasks, your templates, etc. As for the “not be open source”, you just need good license agreements with your clients. Don’t worry about encrypting the code. Just don’t post it anywhere public. If you’re going to be “marketing” your cms as part of a hosted service (as opposed to a product), then the packaging choice might not even matter. -Rob Rob B. [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid