# Installing ruby on ubuntu GNU/Linux **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [October 21, 2007, 4:08am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-ruby-on-ubuntu-gnu-linux/117828 "2007-10-21T04:08:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Devi_Web_D)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 4:08am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-ruby-on-ubuntu-gnu-linux/117828/1 "2007-10-21T04:08:13Z")
I am setting up ruby on a new ubuntu system and was wondering if it matters whether things like rails and various ruby packages are installed via ubuntu’s package manager (Synaptic) or via RubyGems. ---
**Author:** ![Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Devi_Web_D)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 4:52am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-ruby-on-ubuntu-gnu-linux/117828/2 "2007-10-21T04:52:10Z")
Devi Web D. wrote: > I am setting up ruby on a new ubuntu system and was wondering if it matters > whether things like rails and various ruby packages are installed via > ubuntu’s package manager (Synaptic) or via RubyGems. My experience with Ruby on Ubuntu (or pretty much any \*nix system) is that installing from source works best in the long run. Yes, it is more work up front. But it makes it easier to stay on top of the latest versions. – James B. [www.risingtidesoftware.com](http://www.risingtidesoftware.com) - Wicked Cool Coding [www.jamesbritt.com](http://www.jamesbritt.com) - Playing with Better Toys ---
**Author:** ![Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Devi_Web_D)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 6:09am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-ruby-on-ubuntu-gnu-linux/117828/3 "2007-10-21T06:09:51Z")
The main reason I am asking is I read somewhere that the performance of Firefox is different in the packages versus building it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Devi_Web_D)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-ruby-on-ubuntu-gnu-linux/117828/4 "2007-10-21T13:56:58Z")
> That applies to Ruby too. I forget the precise stats, but > Alex > Changing the pthreads flags may break Tk, if I recall correctly. > You can also gain performance by using processor specific optimizations, > [The Gentoo Linux | CustomEssayMeister.com](http://gentoo-wiki.com/Safe_Cflags) has a pretty good list for all kind > of > processors. One thing you will want to look out for is that ruby will compile fine without a few libraries headers that ubuntu does not install by default, but that you’ll end up missing functionality. You will want to install zlib1g-dev, libsyck0-dev, libgdbm-dev and libreadline5-dev, though that is not an exhaustive list. Otherwise, quite a few gems and even stock functionality will complain - and irb won’t support history browsing without readline, for example. HTH, Felix ---
**Author:** ![Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Devi\_Web\_D](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Devi_Web_D)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-ruby-on-ubuntu-gnu-linux/117828/5 "2007-10-21T12:52:05Z")
Devi Web D. wrote: > The main reason I am asking is I read somewhere that the performance of > Firefox is different in the packages versus building it yourself. > That applies to Ruby too. I forget the precise stats, but self-compiled > Ruby is significantly faster than the packaged version (it’s the > –enable-pthreads flag that does it, IIRC). Ubuntu has also been known > to package broken gems in the past, and the packagers can’t/shouldn’t > have to /don’t bother keeping up with the latest releases. You’ll avoid > the most problems if you do it all yourself.