How to distribute ruby software?

Question

Hi i am serching for the best way to distribute ruby software (can be open or commercial) to clients: - with less software installed on client (only ruby interpreter) - without less user interaction for updates

Any idea? I can use gem but it needs to install rubygems and not fit with commercial software.

Answer 1

I recommend setting up a ruby project using Jeweler (http://github.com/technicalpickles/jeweler) and distributing on Gemcutter (http://gemcutter.org/) which is pretty much the standard for gem distribution.

Answer 2

Are you looking for a way to distribute to the desktop or to a headless server?

For the desktop you could try RubyScript2Exe and also check out the article Distributing Ruby Applications

You might also want to consider using JRuby and packaging the software as a Java application.

Answer 3

You may also want to look at BitNami's RubyStack multi-platform installer if you're looking for an easy way to get Ruby, RubyGems and some common gems installed. They also make installable stacks for some common apps (e.g. Typo), but unfortunately they don't offer a way to build a custom installer for your Ruby application.