# Stoobie Noobie Roobie version ques tions redux … **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [May 24, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/stoobie-noobie-roobie-version-ques-tions-redux-a/168677 "2009-05-24T05:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/simon1)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/stoobie-noobie-roobie-version-ques-tions-redux-a/168677/1 "2009-05-24T05:32:48Z")
‘Fossil fuels are for facile fools …’. As Dr. Nick of the Simpsons Sez : Hi Everybody ! A couple of months ago (actually, around March 12th I asked a bunch of questions about what were the then most current versions of Ruby, Ruby on Rails and ancillary tools that are intended to work with Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Unfortunately, I was unable to begin my 1st Rails project at that time as other areas of my life demanded my immediate attention (among other things, I buy and sell gold, silver, platinum & palladium bullion. In case you haven’t noticed the US dollar has most likely begun its terminal swan dive into that dark, necrotic night of All-American fiduciary oblivion and, consequently both gold & silver are poised to shortly go through the roof). So, once again, I’m about to start my 1st Ruby on Rails (Rails) development project. But before I start asking a whole bunch of new questions I’d like to belatedly thank everyone who responded to my last series of questions. Specifically, I’d like to thank : • Frederick C. of Cambridge • Adam F. • Scott T. • Michael Nutt • Jonathan S. Katz • Dean H. I’d like to thank you one and all for taking the time to reply to my questions. I’d also like to apologize to you one and all for taking so long to get back to you and acknowledge your kindness and consideration in replying to my questions. It’s been 2 months since I asked my questions (and, I might add, got your very helpful and informative responses) so I figure, given that things seem to be moving fairly rapidly forward in the Ruby and the Ruby on Rails world, I need to ask the same set of questions again. But, this time I’ll incorporate the helpful information the above mentioned folks supplied me the last time I asked this set of questions. So, enough with all the preliminary blather and palaver, and let’s move on to the questions. The development platform I’ll be using is a Mac running 10.5 (i.e. : “Leopard”). So, here was the 1st question : 1. What is the most recent, stable version of Ruby ? According to my set of respondents, as of the middle of March (beware the Ides of March, noble Caesar) the most current version of Ruby was : Ruby – 1.9.1 . Is this still true or has 1.9.1 been supplanted by a more recent version ? And, the next question : 1. What is the most recent, stable version of Ruby on Rails ? As of March 15th, the most stable recent version of Rails was 2.2.2 although 2.3 was expected imminently. Is this still true ? And 3 : 1. Do the 2 versions work together comfortably or are there 
compatibility issues that I need to be aware of ? Back then the answer was : Ruby 1.8.7 works with Rails 2.2.2 and Ruby 1.9.1 works with Rails 2.3 . Is this still true or has the situation changed yet again ? And 4 : 1. What is the best version of MySQL I should be using bearing in mind the answers to questions 1,2 & 3 above ? The consensus was that either MySQL 5.0.x or 5.1.x would work although both versions have some issues but the issues in each case are not precisely the same. Has this situation changed since the middle of March ? And 5. 1. What Application Server would you recommend I use for this project ? Different people had different preferences. Among those mentioned were : And 6 : 1. What source code editor do you recommend I use ? By the way, I’ve 
been using TextWrangler from Bare Bones Software (version 2.2.1 (186 - 1. and I’ve been pretty happy with it. Most people here seemed to be pretty happy with TextMate. Myself, I’m using TextWrangler, mainly because I’m pretty short on cash these days. I should also mention that it’s pretty good. And, the price (i.e. : free) sure can’t be beat, unless you started giving me money. And, finally, I have an additional question. I’m working on a Macintosh running Leopard (i.e. : Mac OSX 10.5.7). This means that I’ve got to install a whole bunch of stuff on my machine. And, what’s more I have to make sure that all the versions of each one of these tools is the correct one and can work together with all the other pieces of the development environment. The folks that sent me advice and suggestions included 2 separate suggestions on the best way to go about installing all this stuff. One guy wrote and suggested that I use the Hive Logic article. In case you’re wondering that’s the article entitled : Installing Ruby, Rubygems, Rails, and Mongrel on Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) The earl for that article is : [http://hivelogic.com/articles/view/ruby-rails-leopard#ruby](http://hivelogic.com/articles/view/ruby-rails-leopard#ruby) Now, I’ve used an earlier version of that article to install that set of tools on Tiger (i.e. Mac OSX 10.4) and it worked out quite well. Another guy wrote in with the suggestion that I use “MacPorts” to get started quickly. Unfortunately he didn’t provide an earl for MacPorts but I suppose that MacPorts is most likely something like the Hive article and is an alternative way of getting up and running for Ruby & Rails on the Mac. Does anybody have any more information about MacPorts ? Does anybody have any opinion on the relative merits (and, I suppose demerits) of the HiveLogic approach as opposed to MacPorts ? And, finally, it’s my understanding that Macs running Leopard come with both Ruby and Rails already installed on them. So, my questions regarding that situation are as follows : 1. ``` What version of Ruby does a Mac running Leopard have ``` installed on it ? 2. What version of Rails does a Mac running Leopard have installed on it ? 3. Where are they ? 4. Will the presence of preinstalled versions of Ruby & Rails on Macs running Leopard cause any problems if I try to use either the HiveLogic or the MacPorts approach to getting up and running using the Ruby on Rails environment ? Well, I’d like to thank everyone for their patience in reading this rather long and plaintive email. There was a lot to say. So, if any of you have any useful and helpful advice regarding any of the questions I’ve asked in this email then please don’t hesitate to send me your replies. And …I’d like to thank all of you in advance for your help. Comme toujours, here is my contact information : removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid All the best & talk to you soon … Simon. ---
**Author:** ![simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@simon1](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/simon1)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/stoobie-noobie-roobie-version-ques-tions-redux-a/168677/2 "2009-05-25T13:52:58Z")
On May 24, 4:31 am, Simon W. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > So, here was the 1st question : >     1. What is the most recent, stable version of Ruby ? > According to my set of respondents, as of the middle of March (beware > the Ides of March, noble Caesar) the most current version of Ruby was : >       Ruby > – 1.9.1 . > Is this still true or has 1.9.1 been supplanted by a more recent > version ? 1.9.1 is the latest stable version of ruby. It’s still pretty new though (being the first stable version from the 1.9 line) and a lot of people are still on ruby 1.8.6/7. If you do go for 1.9.1 you may find that some of the libraries or gems you want to use are not quite ready for ruby 1.9.1 or that some of the articles you read don’t apply to 1.9.1 > And, the next question : >     1. What is the most recent, stable version of Ruby on Rails ? > As of March 15th, 2.3.2. > with Rails 2.2.2 and Ruby 1.9.1 works with Rails 2.3 . > Is this still true that is true. > or has the situation changed yet again ? > > And 4 : >     1. What is the best version of MySQL I should be using bearing in mind the answers to questions 1,2 & 3 above ? Mysql 5.1.x is now the GA release of mysql (although some have expressed concern that it was made GA before it was ready (especially with regards to those features that are new in 5.1). Not much has changed on that front recently. > Unfortunately he didn’t provide an earl for MacPorts but I suppose > that MacPorts is most likely something like the Hive article and is an > alternative way of getting up and running for Ruby & Rails on the Mac. > Does anybody have any more information about MacPorts ? > **[The MacPorts Project -- Home](https://www.macports.org/)** > > The MacPorts Project is an open-source community initiative to design an easy-to-use > system for compiling, installing, and upgrading either command-line, X11 or Aqua based open-source software on the Mac > OS X operating system. MacPorts is not at all what you think it is. It is a packaging system (derived from the ports system in use in the freebsd world). If you are thinking about apt, emerge etc… then you’re thinking along the right lines. There’s a awful lot of open source software that can be installed via macports. Perhaps the main advantage of something like macports is that it takes care of dependencies and so on, 99% of the time it just works. Occasionally you may find that macports doesn’t have the latest version of the package you want. > Does anybody have any opinion on the relative merits (and, I suppose > demerits) of the HiveLogic approach as opposed to MacPorts ? > And, finally, it’s my understanding that Macs running Leopard come > with both Ruby and Rails already installed on them. > So, my questions regarding that situation are as follows : > > 1.   What version of Ruby does a Mac running Leopard have > installed on it ? 1.8.6 > 1.   What version of Rails does a Mac running Leopard > have installed on it ? 1.2.3 > 1.   Where are they ? Deep inside /System/Library/Frameworks (but symlinked to /usr/bin/ruby and so on) > 1.   Will the presence of preinstalled versions of Ruby > & Rails on Macs running Leopard cause any problems if I try to use either > the HiveLogic or the MacPorts approach to getting up and running using the Ruby > on Rails environment ? Nope. Fred