# Rails, how do people figure out how to use it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 25, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-how-do-people-figure-out-how-to-use-it/97233 "2006-01-25T16:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/anne001)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-how-do-people-figure-out-how-to-use-it/97233/1 "2006-01-25T16:20:12Z")
Lately I have been trying various things and I am amazed at what all the new technology requires from people. I tried to install a wiki, following what seemed a straight forward tutorial, and I had to install mysql, search up and down the net to solve my error problems. Half of it was finding out that you have to start mysql somehow, before other things work. Luckily I had installed php for a flash project, so that was not new. I ended up removing mysql, upgrading php, mysql. Now I can’t find the passwords, user names etc so I can’t even use the wiki, if it is still there after unintalling reinstalling mysql to reset the root password! Today, I am trying to follow the agile web on rails, which also uses mysql, and I am back to hunting for ideas on what to do… As far as I can tell, I followed various fixes for tiger (fix 46, reinstal mysql gem, old password…) tried to figure out what to put,‘root’@'localhost instead of ‘dave’@‘localhost’, and what about “password:” in .yml, leave that blank as in the model? Despite my best efforts at deciphering the advice, terminal hangs on command from page 57 ruby script/generate scaffold Product Admin I have no idea how to debug this, I just know I am not the only one, and my difficulty pails compared to some of the post I founds out there about “deployment” difficulties. I can’t make head of tail of the problem or the fix: [http://groups.google.com/group/rails\_archive/browse\_frm/thread/ff37b19ffba8e66e/1c0134aff52fb9a5?q=database.yml&rnum=3#1c0134aff52fb9a5](http://groups.google.com/group/rails_archive/browse_frm/thread/ff37b19ffba8e66e/1c0134aff52fb9a5?q=database.yml&rnum=3#1c0134aff52fb9a5) Is rails only for web developers and programmers? How much do you need to know to have a remote chance of trying this program? Just curious Our programmer uses java to put up pictures on the web in a timed fashion, and collect responses from subjects over the web. I wanted to do it with Rails… anne ---
**Author:** ![anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/anne001)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-how-do-people-figure-out-how-to-use-it/97233/2 "2006-01-25T16:47:37Z")
Hi – On Thu, 26 Jan 2006, anne001 wrote: > Is rails only for web developers and programmers? How much do you need > to know to have a remote chance of trying this program? Just curious To answer the question in your subject line, on my own behalf: I was fortunate enough to have my first attempts at Rails take place while David Heinemeier H. was sitting behind me at a conference answering my questions on a private IRC channel. (Yes, I know it’s bad manners for the conference organizers, of which I was one, to chat during people’s talks. I usually don’t – I just couldn’t resist 🙂 Anyway… the kinds of questions you’re asking are, in my experience, probably indeed best answered on IRC, where someone can suggest a small fix and you can try it out and see if it works on the spot. The Rails channel is #rubyonrails on [irc.freenode.net](http://irc.freenode.net). Rails is a Web development framework, so by definition it’s for Web developers. On the other hand, the barriers to entry are relatively low, and once you get one application working you can experiment and learn simultaneously. David – David A. Black removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid “Ruby for Rails”, from Manning Publications, coming April 2006! > **[Ruby for Rails](https://www.manning.com/books/ruby-for-rails)** > > NEWER EDITION AVAILABLE > > The Well-Grounded Rubyist, Second Edition is now available. An eBook of the previous edition, The Well-Grounded Rubyist is included at no additional cost when you buy the revised edition! > > > Ruby for Rails helps Rails... ---
**Author:** ![anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/anne001)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-how-do-people-figure-out-how-to-use-it/97233/3 "2006-01-25T16:47:37Z")
anne001 wrote: > Lately I have been trying various things and I am amazed at what all > the new technology requires from people. Many, if not most, open-source tools and libraries are written by geeks for geeks. Even when people take the time to write proper documentation there are often many, many assumptions made about the audience. Most assume that people are running on some \*nix variant, know their way around the command line, have root access, a C complier, and a working knowledge of some ancillary technology (SQL, regular expressions, HTML, etc.) You best bet for getting going with Rails is to get the Rails book from Pragmatic Press, and join the Rails dev mailing list [http://list.rubyonrails.org](http://list.rubyonrails.org) The Rails community is warm and welcoming to newcomers and will gladly help you get up to speed. James B. ---
**Author:** ![anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/anne001)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-how-do-people-figure-out-how-to-use-it/97233/4 "2006-01-25T16:56:46Z")
If you think that’s hard, get ready for what it takes to get a Java application server running. Heh. Looking at the thread you linked to, I’d say your troubles lie in a different place entirely. I’m not a big MySQL fan personally, but we can still probably get you up and running. Could you paste in your database.yml file, from the “config” folder inside your Rails app? If you have any passwords entered there, you should change them to nonsense before sending. Also, there is a whole mailing list for Rails where you are likely to get quicker assistance. If you post your reply there, I’d be happy to continue this discussion without bothering the main Ruby list: [http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails](http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails) –Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/anne001)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 6:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-how-do-people-figure-out-how-to-use-it/97233/5 "2006-01-26T06:53:40Z")
anne001 wrote: > thanks > > anne I think this person had similar experience: [http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=31620&format=full](http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=31620&format=full) ---
**Author:** ![anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/anne001)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-how-do-people-figure-out-how-to-use-it/97233/6 "2006-01-26T13:58:37Z")
Thank you, in the end, the rails list is really busy! I followed the instructions on Gene’s link on how to install on Tiger. starting in comment October 24, 2005 These instructions work on OSX, most linux distros and FreeBSD … I skipped the reinstallation of ruby since it works and I run the fix #46. It is soothing to run a bunch of things and see things happening even if you don’t know what. I stopped at the compile php part, because I installed php5 from a package, and don’t remember how to compile a binary of it, and don’t know if I need to compile some mysql option too… So I don’t know if it is all this install magic, or if it is rebooting the computer, but this time the script/generate ran all the way. thank you ---
**Author:** ![anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/34f0e0/32.png) [@anne001](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/anne001)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/rails-how-do-people-figure-out-how-to-use-it/97233/7 "2006-01-26T02:25:08Z")
Thank you for your responses. To fix my problems with too much technology, dbl suggest I use more! I have no idea what IRC is, but I suspect that is another install etc… I will pass! But I will try to hang on with the install thing. Worse comes to worse I will try locomotive which is supposed to be all in one. So I asked for help on the rubyonrails as Wilson and James suggested, which for some reason does not appear on the google archive? why is that. But it is on the regular list archive. thanks anne