# Packaging source files on multiple OSs **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 31, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/packaging-source-files-on-multiple-oss/182637 "2010-01-31T18:41:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elricstorm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/packaging-source-files-on-multiple-oss/182637/1 "2010-01-31T18:41:15Z")
Can anyone direct me to an article or site that shows how to package applications built with Ruby? If I create a GUI application and want to package it for Mac, Linux, and Windows, I’d like to know what’s involved in the packaging process so that I can ensure I setup my build environment efficiently. I also would like to ensure that people can use my applications but at the same time I would like to protect my code. On windows, normally I would use an obfuscator, or something similar, to protect my code. The following applies to this scenario: Users may or may not have ruby installed on their system Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. My thanks. ---
**Author:** ![elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elricstorm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/packaging-source-files-on-multiple-oss/182637/2 "2010-02-01T00:26:00Z")
Compiling a list of things I found so far: Ocra (works fine but only packages for windows exe and also has some issues with xml.load with wx\_sugar and xrc source compile (bug reported tonight)). Crate (this looks very promising but it doesn’t work on Ruby 1.9. Verified this on [isitruby19.com](http://isitruby19.com) and added my own report there as well.) According to the docs it appears it will provide packaging for windows, mac, and linux, which is what I’m after. Other than these two, I’m not finding much luck. ---
**Author:** ![elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elricstorm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/packaging-source-files-on-multiple-oss/182637/3 "2010-02-01T01:17:47Z")
Alpha B. wrote: > Compiling a list of things I found so far: > > Ocra (works fine but only packages for windows exe and also has some > issues with xml.load with wx\_sugar and xrc source compile (bug reported > tonight)). > > Crate (this looks very promising but it doesn’t work on Ruby 1.9. > Verified this on [isitruby19.com](http://isitruby19.com) and added my own report there as well.) > According to the docs it appears it will provide packaging for windows, > mac, and linux, which is what I’m after. > > Other than these two, I’m not finding much luck. Monkeybars uses Rawr and JRuby to do exactly what you’re talking about. ## Best, Marnen Laibow-Koser [http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid ---
**Author:** ![elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elricstorm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/packaging-source-files-on-multiple-oss/182637/4 "2010-02-01T22:59:10Z")
Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote: > Monkeybars uses Rawr and JRuby to do exactly what you’re talking about. Thanks Marnen, I did try out monkeybars but I didn’t like the library. I have become very familiar with WxRuby now and have dug deep into the API. I’m going to stick with WxRuby and hopefully either crate comes up to speed, or I’ll use ocra for windows packaging (which now works for me) and come up with alternative packaging for other OS’s. My last issue has to do with lack of obfuscation, which I only want to apply to my source code and not to the ruby libraries that are packaged with my code. I may have to create an obfuscator myself, but that’s a long and tedious process. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elricstorm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/packaging-source-files-on-multiple-oss/182637/5 "2010-02-01T23:16:35Z")
On Monday 01 February 2010 03:59:12 pm Alpha B. wrote: > Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote: > > > Monkeybars uses Rawr and JRuby to do exactly what you’re talking about. > > Thanks Marnen, I did try out monkeybars but I didn’t like the library. > [snip] > My last issue has to do with lack of obfuscation, which I only want to > apply to my source code and not to the ruby libraries that are packaged > with my code. I may have to create an obfuscator myself, but that’s a > long and tedious process. First, realize it’s not going to work, whatever your rationale is. If you want to obfuscate it because there’s DRM involved, DRM is inherently flawed and will _never_ succeed. If you want to obfuscate it because you don’t want people “stealing” your code and re-using it for something else, copyright law is a much better way to deal with that. But if you’re still determined to obfuscate your source, JRuby is likely going to be the best way to do that, though not yet. There was a recent announcement that JRuby will gain the ability to dump the bytecode result of any evaluation – this means that if your program is well-behaved (properly object-oriented, for example), it should mostly compile directly to Java bytecode. Well, sort of. If you’re familiar with v8 snapshots (v8 is Google’s Javascript engine), I think it’s the same idea. I don’t think that exists _yet_, though I hope Rawr picks it up when it does – not because I want obfuscation, but because it would improve startup time by a lot. ---
**Author:** ![elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elricstorm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/packaging-source-files-on-multiple-oss/182637/6 "2010-02-01T23:30:40Z")
Thanks guys - appreciate the responses. ---
**Author:** ![elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@elricstorm](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/elricstorm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/packaging-source-files-on-multiple-oss/182637/7 "2010-02-01T23:12:29Z")
Alpha B. wrote: > Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote: > > > Monkeybars uses Rawr and JRuby to do exactly what you’re talking about. > > Thanks Marnen, I did try out monkeybars but I didn’t like the library. What about Rawr without Monkeybars, then? (And BTW, let me assure you that Monkeybars is a joy to work with. Almost as nice as Rails.) > I have become very familiar with WxRuby now and have dug deep into the > API. I’m going to stick with WxRuby and hopefully either crate comes up > to speed, or I’ll use ocra for windows packaging (which now works for > me) and come up with alternative packaging for other OS’s. There’s really no good way except for JRuby, as far as I can tell. You’re kind of putting effort into a dead end IMHO. > My last issue has to do with lack of obfuscation, which I only want to > apply to my source code and not to the ruby libraries that are packaged > with my code. I may have to create an obfuscator myself, but that’s a > long and tedious process. JRuby can help with this too – particularly with Rawr, which complies your Ruby files into Java class files. Otherwise, don’t bother. Obfuscation is risky and almost never worth it. > Thanks again. Best, –Â Marnen Laibow-Koser [http://www.marnen.org](http://www.marnen.org) removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid