Request for static Ruby location

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What steps will reproduce the problem?

1.Run search in Windows
2.
3.

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

Ruby is executed from a temporary location.  This means my firewall app asks me 
to validate it.  Over time this builds up entries in the firewall rules list, 
referring to non existent Ruby locations.  These need to be manually cleared 
out.

What version of the product are you using? On what operating system?

3.18.1  Windows 7 Pro

Please provide any additional information below.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by hieg...@gmail.com on 12 Nov 2013 at 7:56

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What you're complaining about is a *feature* of having a single executable 
instead of a whole installation tree, coming with everything needed to run the 
GeoToad Ruby script. (Think about the cake, having and eating.)

Nobody (I hope) would stop you from 
1. installing your own Ruby (hint: get the "pik" gem to be able to switch 
versions)
2. retrieving the tarball (*.tar.gz) instead of the Windows installer, and 
unpacking it
3. creating a link on your desktop to invoke "ruby \path\to\geotoad.rb"

At least that's my naive view - if you find any obstacles, please share them.

(BTW, some foolproof instructions for the steps outlined above should go into 
the "long documentation". May I ask you to contribute to Issue 282?

Original comment by Steve8x8 on 13 Nov 2013 at 8:20

[GoogleCodeExporter]

It was a feature request.  I don't see where you thought I was making a 
complaint.  I would have made it a request (hence the title) had I known how.  
Sorry but I intended to improve not criticize.  I'm very grateful for your 
efforts.

I understand the trade-off between ease of installation and dynamic execution 
location.  That's all you needed to say - you made an engineering decision and 
as a 40+ year developer myself I can sympathise.

You might like to think about allowing the user to install Ruby and set an 
environment variable to its location.  Check if it is set, and if not do what 
you do now.  If it is set then use it.  Please don't be offended again at my 
new suggestion :-)

Original comment by hieg...@gmail.com on 13 Nov 2013 at 8:10

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Um, perhaps I misunderstood you - sorry for that.

Again I'm close to another misunderstanding - what you're talking about in the 
last paragraph sounds a bit like a concept that (in other context) would be 
called "fat binary". Should all code be packed into one package, with an 
installer that determines whether it is run in a Windows, MacOS, or Unix 
environment, and also find out whether there's Ruby already available - and 
take appropriate action then?

I'd prefer the user to choose (who knows her system better than any detection 
code would).

You're right, at the moment there are too many options available, and actually 
many downloaders seem to be confused by them - as I see "package" downloads 
immediately followed by .tar.gz downloads. Unfortunately I haven't found how to 
put a (FTP-type) README text on top of the downloads list. *And* the order of 
the list cannot be changed easily.

Obviously, there's a need for some hand-holding - that's why issue 282 is 
there... I'd appreciate any contribution, even if it only covers a small aspect.
What should be said - where? how? - :

1. If you already have Ruby installed on your machine, or you'd take 
responsibility of installing it yourself, then the tarball is all you need 
(and, as I said, the "pik" gem to take care of the Ruby path settings). There 
would be no cleanup support though.

2. If you're using Debian/Ubuntu, there's a special service available - a deb 
package which takes care of the (Ruby) dependency, and gets removed on 
de-install.

3. For MacOSX, there's a package as well, but it comes without Ruby, so at 
least you can uninstall/upgrade properly.

All three setups would give you a "static Ruby location", and nothing that 
would trigger a firewall.

How would a Windows "package" look like in your opinion? Having disconnected 
from the Windows world many years ago, I cannot imagine anything practical 
besides the current Ocra/Inno setup (which had to replace the previous ruby2exe 
concept) - or falling back to square one, as outlined above.
If that's kind of blindness, I'd be happy to have a guide to the modern Windows 
world.

Original comment by Steve8x8 on 14 Nov 2013 at 1:30

• Changed state: InfoNeeded

[GoogleCodeExporter]

There's a ReadMe file now in the download space which attempts to hold your 
hand while you decide which file to download.
This obviously stays invisible if you use download links on other portals, of 
course.

Original comment by Steve8x8 on 5 Dec 2013 at 8:51

• Changed state: Started

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Nothing has happened here for a year now...

Original comment by Steve8x8 on 23 Jan 2015 at 10:21

• Changed state: WontFix