# Installing sake tasks along with gem (gem install hooks?)

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-sake-tasks-along-with-gem-gem-install-hooks/144874>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [August 3, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-sake-tasks-along-with-gem-gem-install-hooks/144874 "2008-08-03T18:57:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pergesu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@pergesu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/pergesu)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-sake-tasks-along-with-gem-gem-install-hooks/144874/1 "2008-08-03T18:57:38Z")

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I’d like to install a bunch of sake tasks when a gem gets installed.  
Has anyone done this? Are there any nice hooks into the gem install  
process, or do I just have to hack some stuff in? I know that you can  
install binaries by placing them in the bin/ dir, but I’ve not seen  
anything about installing sake tasks or simply running arbitrary code  
during the gem install.

Thanks,  
Pat

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pergesu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@pergesu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/pergesu)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-sake-tasks-along-with-gem-gem-install-hooks/144874/2 "2008-08-03T19:49:09Z")

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Pat M. wrote:

> I’d like to install a bunch of sake tasks when a gem gets installed.  
> Has anyone done this? Are there any nice hooks into the gem install  
> process, or do I just have to hack some stuff in? I know that you can  
> install binaries by placing them in the bin/ dir, but I’ve not seen  
> anything about installing sake tasks or simply running arbitrary code  
> during the gem install.

Because gem install runs as root, allowing arbitrary code to run during  
install is considered a security risk.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pergesu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@pergesu](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/pergesu)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/installing-sake-tasks-along-with-gem-gem-install-hooks/144874/3 "2008-08-03T20:26:03Z")

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On Sunday 03 August 2008 12:47:30 Tim H. wrote:

> Because gem install runs as root, allowing arbitrary code to run during  
> install is considered a security risk.

Even if it’s trusted, it starts to defeat the purpose of a package  
manager.

See, anything I can “gem install”, I can, with confidence, “gem  
uninstall”.  
About the only thing missing for me at this point is reverse  
dependencies –  
but it’s reasonably easy for me to nuke all gems on my system. With the  
Ubuntu-ized Rubygems, even easier – I can just blow away  
/var/lib/gems/\*,  
and start over.

If a gem could run arbitrary code during installation, that would mean I  
would  
have no way, short of analyzing the source code, to know what it  
installed,  
or how to clean up after it when I decide I don’t like it after all.

Now, of course, you can always misbehave with the actual binary, because  
that  
is running arbitrary code. But forcing you to do it that way hopefully  
discourages you from messing with my system – after all, I might not be  
running that command as root.

So it’s not just a security risk – it’s a cruft risk, as well.