Ruby Enterprise 1.8.7 and standard Ruby 1.8 have overlapping gem paths

Question

I installed Ruby Enterprise 1.8.7 on a Ubuntu server that already has the standard Ruby 1.8.6 install. They both put the same local user gem directory /home/{username}/.gem/ruby/1.8 in their GEM PATHS. Is this safe and proper?

If not, is there a way to alter the GEM PATH of Ruby Enterprise 1.8.7 (but not Ruby 1.8.6) through an environmental variable so it doesn't include /home/{username}/.gem/ruby/1.8 but instead something like /home/{username}/.gem/ruby/1.8.7?

Answer 1

Hi Dan, it's unlikely that you'll have major problems with this as the gems are really the same for both. However, you should check out rvm as this is the type of problem it's intended to solve. As you try other ruby interpreters, you'll thank yourself.