> * This is going to be commercial software, and I do NOT intend to give
> away the source code. Is their a way that Ruby programs can be
> securely compiled so that the source code is inaccessible?

Just to give another viewpoint, have you thought about distributing your
source despite the fact that you're writing a commercial program?  By
distributing the source code, you get some of the benefits of the open
source model - i.e. customers can fix your bugs if they want, they can more
easily write extensions/plugins, and they get the security of knowing that
if you decide to move on, they aren't totally lost.

Joel Spolsky wrote an article on his decision to release (and allow
modifications of) his company's source code:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000026.html

Apologies if this is not relevant to your application, but maybe it's an
interesting footnote anyway. :)

Oliver Smith